Honda Constellations
by Dark Inu Fan
Summary: A new student a school, a strange horoscope in the paper. What does this all mean? And is this all connected to Tohru’s past? 1st Furuba fic.
1. Pisces

There was once a god named Typhon, who wished to rule the world, but Zeus would have nothing of it. Typhon was a terror, continually trying to overthrow the entire pantheon of gods. He was so great that he caused all of the immortals to flee to the lands now called Egypt and seek refuge there. The only one to stay behind was the king of the gods, Zeus, in hopes of freeing his kingdom for his people. It is said that Eros and his mother, Aphrodite, were walking on a riverbank when they sensed the tyrant. They both dove into the river for safety, turning into the fishes that we today call Pisces.

* * *

"good morning my little flower!" Shigure exclaimed as he walked into the kitchen to see how Tohru Honda was doing with breakfast that morning, and to hopefully grab a sample of her delicious cooking.

"Good morning Shigure! Can you get the newspaper for me?" she asked without looking up from the batter that she was mixing. He nodded and left out the shoji to 'fetch' the paper. A minute later, he came back in and opened it up to scan the front page for inspiration for his next novel.

A sizzling came from the kitchen and Tohru came out while the breakfast was cooking. "Can I have the horoscopes? I mean, after you're done, Shigure." Tohru kneeled on the opposite side of the low table.

He nodded, looking up from reading his own, "which one are you, I'll read it for you."

Tohru looked toward the kitchen in a sad moment, "Taurus. Um, excuse me, I think I need to flip the pancakes." She excused herself and left. Shigure shook his head slightly at her strange behavior and turned to the horoscopes so he could read his own (Scorpio) before reading hers out loud.

"Interesting…

Taurus: -o all of y-u dear bulls out t-ere, its time to come home. It has been yea-s since then and they miss you terribly. Fly free to yo-r nest and embrace your family.

That has to mean something. Or the editor had the day off…" Shigure mumbled to himself, not sure what to make of the odd message.

Tohru came in silently, wondering why he has trailed off in the middle of reading her horoscope. Shigure looked up to see her pale face, " can I see that fortune please?" she held out her hand, waiting for the page. Shigure handed it to her and she practically ripped it out of his hands and grabbed a pen. After writing all over the page for a few seconds, she held it up and proceeded to read the others also.

"Ms. Honda? Are you feeing alright?" he asked, watching her face grow ever more pale. She nodded, falling back onto a cushion that was around the table, "maybe I should call Hatori for you?"

"N…no, I'm alright. It's just a message to me from my family." Tohru turned the paper so Shigure could see better, "the missing letters spell out my public name. They want me back at the house and I don't want to go."

"Your grandfather's?"

"No, my uncle's on my dad's side. I didn't go last year and they are getting tense about me being out in the public." Tohru left the table to go put the next set on the griddle.

"Believe it or not," cam her voice through the shoji, "I ran away from our family's house with my mom before she left. Sure, grandpa knew about where I was at the time, but not enough to squeal back to the main house and bring me back. Now all I have to do is find who told!" what they didn't see was her waving the spatula around like a madwoman.

Yuki came in to the dining room in the middle of her tirade, and was mentally asking himself who replaced Tohru with a human being…"Wait a minute, you ran away?" he asked in shock, not expecting her to be the one to run away, but the person to convince people to stay and stand up for themselves.

"Ah, yeah, umm… Shigure! Don't you have a new chapter due sometime soon for Mii-chan?" Tohru rushed, not-so-gently avoiding the subject of her running away. The thing about it, is that she didn't want to bring up memories that were less-than-pleasant. She took off the last of the pancakes and turned off the griddle.

Shigure sighed dramatically and slumped off, but not before rolling up a pancake and stuffing it in his mouth for breakfast. Tohru entered the dining room and sat down the pancakes, giving the silent signal for Yuki to dig in. Tohru sat down herself and looked around, "where's Kyo? I thought he would have come down for breakfast already."

"The stupid cat's probably up on the roof still, asleep," Yuki offered with a shrug. It wasn't his business to keep tabs on where his cousin was all the time. Yuki was usually the one that was still asleep, but not this morning because there was going to be a new student and the council was having a meeting anyway.

"that's okay, I'll go wake him up before we're late for school," Tohru suggested politely, standing up from her own breakfast and heading toward the outdoor shoji screen, for it to just open to reveal a disgruntled Kyo. "oh, good morning Kyo! I was just about to get you for breakfast!" Tohru let loose one of her winning smiles, hiding all of her worries from the world for the day. Kyo smiled back invisibly and sat down in his place and started breakfast.

Tohru let her smile falter slightly as she turned away from the others to get ready for the day, she sensed that something wasn't right and it was revolving around her own self. Her horoscope was just the beginning, what else would happen today?

* * *

The bell rang and the students settled down, with Kyo in the back-most seats, yuki flanking Tohru to her left, Uo by the door and Hana in the back corner. The teacher, Mr. Ukiwa, came in last and set his bag beside the desk, grabbing at the roll sheet for a quick check. "students, today we have a new student, I hope you will welcome her warmly into our room." He looked around, giving a few select students a warning glare before turning to the door, "you may come in now and introduce yourself, miss."

The door glided open silently, and almost antagonizing slow. The classes' first glimpse was of a set of long, slender, pale fingers lightly grasping the frame to push the door the rest of the way open. Her hand was very pale, like someone who didn't go outside that much. The Sohma's would have thought that it was their 'oh-so-dear' cousin/brother Ayame, except for the perfectly manicured red nails that had professional French tips on them and the fact that Ayame also had the slightest of tans.

Time came back to normal for everyone except for our heroine, for her it completely stopped, along with her breathing. The girl was tall and willowy, but her walk showed a hidden strength and grace, like a dancer. Her hair was snow-white and down to her waist with a pair of matching sky-blue eyes that seemed to dissect you from the inside-out. Her skin was as flawlessly white as her fingers had been, with red lipstick to match her nail polish. For being her first day at the school, she already had a long-sleeved girl's school uniform, but her skirt was short enough to accentuate her legs. Tohru by this time was starting to match this new girl's complexion.

She came to stand beside the teacher and gave a low bow, "hello, my name is Sylvia Hidama (falling star), and I am pleased to meet you." Uo sneaked a glance over to Tohru, who was frozen stiff on the edge of a nervous breakdown. She didn't have Hana's powers, but she suspected that her 'electrical waves' were off-the-charts erratic.

"would you like to share anything with the class before you sit down Ms. Hidama?" Mr. Ukiwa asked, barely concealing his infatuation with his new charge. Tohru started shaking her head slightly and sunk down into her chair to try to hide herself, and her eyes were completely dilated in fear.

"yes, I would, Mr. Ukiwa," she replied in her honey-sweet voice, giving him a small bow before turning back to the class. "I am in the local ballet company and next month I will be starring in a Japanese interpretation of the great 'Swan Lake'."

"well, we'll definitely have to go watch your performance next month! And if you have nothing else to add, please sit down behind Ms. Honda. Tohru, raise your hand please." She snapped out of her nightmare and mouthed 'no' before tentatively raising her hand. As soon as Sylvia started walking in the right direction, Tohru went to her hair and quickly put it in a messy bun, securing it with a long wooden pencil.

Sylvia briefly stopped by Tohru's desk and laid her hand on her shoulder, "good to see you again Taurus, I haven't seen you at the family…" her hand inched to the end of Tohru's sleeve, making brief skin contact. "reunions lately. People, I, missed you." She grinned, sitting down behind the girl. Hana watched the interaction with apprehension, seeing her best friend stiffen with her eyes watering, from a pain of some sort. Possibly the mention of her family? She saw waves of worry coming from the Sohma boys as well as Uo, and obvious painful waves of the girl she always protected when she could.

"don't worry, Cygnus, you'll see me at the next one," she hissed out, trying to fight the fiery pain from where the new girl touched her without moving. Yuki listened to the brief conversation discreetly, wondering what the relation between the two was, because they definitely didn't have the same last name. But most importantly, what was it with the manes Cygnus and Taurus? They sounded vaguely familiar.

" I see that you let your hair grow out, and what an ugly cut it is," she whispered, discreetly poking the messy bun, "don't worry, I'll fix it right up when you come back home," she sneered, poking extra hard with the sharp point of her pencil at the base of Tohru's neck. What no one saw, was Tohru pull out a pot of flesh-colored powder and rub it lightly onto both of her hands before putting it back away in her pocket. Now all she had to do was discreetly dab her hand with water for a fake wound to get her out of class and away from _Cygnus_. Luckily, she had brought her water bottle to class today and could execute her escape.

Tohru took a sip of her water bottle, making sure that one side became moist enough to activate the powder. Making sure not to couch the wet part, she screwed the cap back on. Then, as she was setting it back on her desk, she touched the skin between her thumb and pointer finger on the wet spot, leaving a blood-like smudge on the paper label. Now that the bait was set, she just needed a caring classmate- or teacher- to notice.

Yuki just happened to be that caring classmate as he noticed the 'blood-stain' that marred the label and followed it to her non-dominant left hand with a similar red-yellow smear. "ms Honda, what happened to your hand?" he asked quietly, gesturing to see the 'wound' closer, but not touching.

Tohru snapped her head to look at the boy and then down at hr hand, as if she wasn't aware of the condition of her hand. "oh, I don't know," she held it for yuki to get a semi-decent look at it, hiding where the actual 'wound' was, "probably last night when I was cooking dinner. The potato peeler probably skinned it."

"you should go and get a bandage and clean that up before it gets infected," yuki suggested, not noticing the shadow of the teacher come between the two.

"is there anything going on between you two Mr. Sohma?" came a voice eerily close to Yuki's ear, making him jump and bow lowly to the teacher, to which the voice belonged.

"not really, sir, I was just suggesting to miss Honda that she should go to the nurses' office and get a bandage for her hand," yuki stuttered, gesturing to her hand in several occasions. The class giggled a bit on their expense.

"well, since you seem so fascinated in helping Miss Honda," yuki received a slight dusting of pink on his cheeks, "you can make sure she makes it to the nurses' office. I'll write you both passes." Mr. Ukiwa walked between the two and ripped off a pair of pink slips of paper from his desk. They stood up and left, yuki being gentlemanly and opening the shoji for Tohru.

* * *

"is your hand hurting you?" yuki asked, breaking the silence between the two.

"huh?"

" your hand, are you in pain?"

Tohru held her hand up and turned it to inspect it carefully, "no, it doesn't hurt me at all. but I guess I should wash this off before it stains." She walked over to a water fountain and hailed yuki to follow. "see my hands, no injuries whatsoever." She held out her hands for yuki to see, "now I put my hands underwater like this and viola! Instant bloody hand," she pulled her hand out from under the previously clear stream of water and it looked like her hands had been dipped in fresh blood. she also showed the palm of her other hand where there was a blood-like ring where she had pushed the moist fountain button. "can you open the door so I can wash the rest of this off. It needs some soap." Yuki did as he was asked, but gave one of his ' you'd better explain all of this when you get back out here' looks and all Tohru did was smile in reply.

* * *

A moment later Tohru came out, rubbing her hands try on a paper towel that was tinged pink. There was no was to escape his questioning gaze, and she sighed in defeat. "I know that you don't approve of me using you to get out of class, I don't approve of me doing that, but it was an emergency before I would have had to explain something to the class that I would have liked to leave behind in my old life." Tohru started walking to the roof, yuki following to find out what her grand excuse was.

Tohru and yuki stepped out on the roof before speaking again, "Cyg…Sylvia and I know each other from our past. I just need a breather… and maybe a plan… before I go back in there," Tohru looked out on the grounds, pressing her forehead on the chain-link, and groaned in a 'I don't wanna do this' way.

Yuki sat down, leaning against the fence to get a better view of Tohru's face, "how do you two know each other?" she tensed at the question, debating how exactly to answer the fatal question: how?

"well, you see, she's my…"

* * *

and you'll have to wait until next time! Ha! I don't really know that much about the Furuba universe except for what's in fanfics and online, so if I've butchered a character, tell me! And if you have any info that would help in your eyes, tell me!

Talk to ya guys later! dark


	2. Aries

In ancient Greece, there was a king, Athamas, that took a second wife, Ino. She was a jealous woman, hating her step-children Phrixus and his sister Helle. One day, Ino plotted how to get rid of the two by making the villagers think that they had caused the famine that had swept the land, and the only way to stop it was to sacrifice them to the gods. Hermes, the messenger god, saw this and took pity on the innocent children. He sent a ram that was faithful to the siblings and their real mother to save them. The ram's name was Aries. The ram flew down and saved the children, flying over the seas to a country then called Colchis. Unfortunately, the girl, Helle, fell off and drowned in the straight named after her: Hellespoint.

The king of Colchis welcomed Phrixus with open arms, and in fact even invited him to marry his oldest daughter, which he did. Now, the ram knew that his mission was complete and let himself be sacrificed to Zeus for thanks of the good journey. The king sheared off Aires's Golden Fleece and hung it in the grove of Ares to be protected for all time by a never-sleeping dragon/serpent. Zeus was proud of the ram and immortalized him, making him into a constellation. Why they say Aries is so faint, is because he no longer has his shining Golden Fleece.

* * *

Yuki sat down, leaning against the fence to get a better view of Tohru's face, "how do you two know each other?" she tensed at the question, debating how exactly to answer the fatal question: how?

"well, you see, she's my sister, half-sister actually, and we don't exactly get along," Tohru turned and faced yuki, "just don't make me explain why she's only two months older than me." She smiled, hiding her resentment, "lets go back before they suspect something, okay?" Tohru grasped Yuki's hand and pulled him to the door, hiding the little glimpse of her true self again under her cheerful mask.

"oh, look, the rat's back," Kyo sneered, announcing the arrival of the two MIAs. Yuki gave a small glare, unnoticeable by his 'fan club', and Tohru half-hid behind yuki, blushing slightly.

His now-calm gaze scanned the room to only reveal the two empty seats that belonged to him and Tohru. "switch seats with me," he whispered, "so your… she won't bother you any more." Tohru gave a small nod and headed into the classroom, Yuki following. Collecting her stuff, she placed it on Yuki's desk and gave him his neatly organized book bag before sitting down.

The teacher was fortunately somewhere else at the time and took a double-take, seeing the switch in seats, but shook his head and passed it off as senility. Sylvia seemed irked at first, but soon a plotting grin crossed her face. "hey, hey you," she poked Yuki's shoulder, but he kept his eyes forward. she wasn't one to give up easily, "hey, what's your name?" she waited, but no response came except for a slight flinch at her touch. "For being as cute as you are, you sure don't talk very much. Are you mute?… well," she giggled at herself, "you wouldn't respond then, would you? Being mute and all." Her tone then turned serious, "you stay away from her, whatever your name is, she's not good enough for you that little prick only deserves to be turned out to pasture." Tohru turned away at that, trying to ignore the stinging sensation behind her eyes.

* * *

It was a long time until lunch, but they finally made it out of the classroom and up onto the roof for lunch. "so, what was up with that new chick? Is she a new member of your fan club or what?" Kyo asked through a mouthful of muffin. Tohru shook her head slightly, silently responding for Yuki, and looked out on the grounds to find the patch of snow-white in the darker heads.

"oh no, she's not!" Tohru stood up with her anger, grabbing the chain-link fence. She spotted Sylvia being approached by the fan club and they started talking. Apparently after a few moments of explanation, she became a welcome member of the side branch of Yuki's fan club called 'I hate Tohru Honda.' And after a few more minutes of talking and laughter, they pointed to the roof and Cygnus nodded her head in thanks.

"What is it?" Kyo asked, standing up beside Tohru and looking for what she was so unnerved about.

"That's bad," Yuki had looked out on Tohru's other side and saw who was coming like a beeline to the ladder to the roof, which happened to be the only means of escape besides the access door was locked on the inside, unless the person wanted to jump about five stories. Kyo looked down also and saw her closing in to the ladder.

"Its her," Hana said, not even bothering to stand up like the rest, preferring to finish her chips, "her electrical signals are wild, just like last time, she wants blood."

"Has she seen us yet?" Uo asked, standing up and going over to the locked door in hopes that it would somehow unlock with her touch.

And just as things would have it, the bird looked up and gave them a smile that hid malicious thoughts directly under the surface. Tohru's eyes widened and she ran from the edge to the door by Uo. "I would take that as a yes, Tohru?" the girl was digging in her book bag for something franticly.

"no, no, of all times for me to loose them, not now!" Tohru held up a leather pouch that looked like a relatively large wallet, "Aha!" the others came over to the door, leaving Yuki to keep and eye on the ascending girl that was about half way up already, seemingly unafraid of heights.

"what do you have Tohru?" Kyo asked, looking down at the wallet while she opened it up to reveal… dental tools and a credit card. He raised his eyebrow in curiosity while the others stood back slightly and out of the door's way.

Tohru took out the card and held it in her hand for a few precious seconds before sliding it in the space between the frame and door by the lock. After a few seconds, Tohru heard a click and the door swung open. Opening the door wider, she herded the others inside before whistling to signal Yuki. He gave one final glance before sprinting to the door before Tohru shut it tight.

She made sure that the door closed and locked itself before sinking down to the stairs in relief, laughing. "woo! I haven't done that in years!" Tohru held up the card, which revealed vertical scratch marks and a hook on one end, in celebration before putting it back in its sleeve. She put the wallet thing back into her bag laughing, but jumped, nearly on the boys, when pounding started at the metallic door.

"come on out here, Taurus, come out here and pla-ay!" came a sickening-sweet voice. Tohru went pale when the handle started jingling after a few moments of silence, "you know that you can't stay indoors too long, Taurus, it's not in your nature. And when you do, I'll be ready to…"

"just fly away, Cygnus! I don't want to go back and they can't make me!" Tohru yelled through the door, startling the boys and scaring the girls with her voice.

Laughing started from the other side, softly at first, but quickly became riotous, "yes, they can! I'm just the messenger and they, know, where, you, live!" at that, both girls left the door, Sylvia dancing to the ladder and Tohru stomping down the stairs. The others looked at each other and in a mutual consensus decided to be quiet for the time being.

At the bottom of the stairs, Tohru kicked the door open and stormed town the hallway toward the bathroom. Uo saw the damage done to the hinges and her eyes widened. It has begun already. "Tohru! Wait up!" she called, running up to her friend and pinning both of her wrists behind her back. Tohru started to struggle as the ex-Yankee held her still. "Tohru, you need to calm down before…" she glanced over to the boys and changed her tactic, "Tohru, you nearly tore down the door and I know with your job you can't pay for a new one! Now calm down!" Uo hissed, holding the smaller girl still until her shoulders started sagging.

"I'm sorry. It's just…"

"we know," Hana stepped forward, her hands in a placating gesture, careful not to touch her friend, "and I'll talk to them tonight when I go over there." Tohru nodded and Uo let go slowly, letting Tohru rub her sore arm joints.

"ow," Tohru said slowly, remembering the last time that she had to be held like that. "lunch is almost over and we should start heading back to class. And I shouldn't let something like, this, stop me from keeping my promise to mom, right?" the girls nodded and started walking, leaving the boys in the state known as confusion.

"are you coming, or are you both going to ditch?" Uo called behind her, snapping the boys out of their daze and sprinted to catch up.

"so… what's the thing between you guys and the new girl?" Kyo asked, causing the girls to falter in their step and look at Tohru, who in turn looked at her feet.

"let's just put it as I know her and we don't like each other," Tohru said shortly, speeding up and around the corner into the girl's bathroom.

Uo sighed and looked over to the boys, "those two fight worse than, what's a good example Hana? Oh, yeah, a cat and a mouse." The boys looked at each other and caught eye contact briefly, silently agreeing that there was more to Tohru that met the eye.

"so, where did Miss Honda learn to unlock doors like that?" Yuki asked, mimicking the sliding action that Tohru used earlier.

Uo laughed shortly and looked the boys in the eye, "she's a second generation Yankee, maybe even more, and Kyoko taught her more than just helpful sayings. There are things that you wouldn't expect her to know that she does. Packages can be misleading, boys." With that she left to the classroom where she knew Tohru would eventually show up to.

"if you want to know more about her, just ask," Hana stared at the two boys for a second, completely creeping them out, "if its one thing that her packaging does tell, its her honesty if you just know what to ask."

* * *

By the time that the boys walked back home, Tohru had run the entire way and was now in her room getting…something. She came downstairs a minute later in a purple tank top and matching loose pants with a sash tying the pants secure so they wouldn't fall down easily. She had a small boom box in her hands and was seemingly barefoot. "I'm going out for a little while before I start dinner!" she called from the front door, not even bothering to put on a pair of shoes. She left before there was any sign that the trio had heard and they didn't even see her outfit.

"Tohru-kun didn't say hello to me!" Shigure whined, coming out from his office dramatically. The boys just rolled their eyes and went to the front door in time to see Tohru's retreating back going into the woods.

"did you know she owned a pair of pants…?"

"isn't that the direction that her tent was before she came to us last year?" yuki asked, gesturing in that general direction.

"yes it is," Shigure said, turning serious, "she seems upset about something. I'm going to follow her in a few minutes just in case." They were about to whap him across the skull, but it did make sense, Sometimes an older person was needed to talk to instead of a peer.

"there was a new student in our class today that Honda-kun seemed to know. When she sat down, they called each other different names. The new girl was called Cygnus and Honda-kun was called Taurus. Uo-san and Hana-san seemed to know her too, but didn't have a grudge. How Uo-san they were, was like a cat and a mouse," Yuki said, watching Shigure slip on a pair of shoes at the door.

"hmm, and interesting choice of words I would say. But it seems interesting what the two call each other. They're constellation names, yuki, and Taurus is in the western zodiac, the bull if I'm correct. I wonder if there are more things to our little flower than it looks like," Shigure stood up and went to the door, "now all we have to find out is if this is something to look into or not," and he left.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking, Shigure started to feel the beat of the bass on Tohru's boom box and followed it to where he thought she would be. She was in the clearing that her tent used to be, but wasn't doing what he expected. The majority of the dirt from the old land slide had been moved around to flatten out the land when Yuki and his rats had dug up Tohru's stuff. She was currently at the far end of the clearing, breathing hard, and started to run. Clearly, she wasn't aware of anything but herself, the music, and the ground because she pushed off with her right foot and started a tumbling routine in time with the song.

She was a little rusty it looked like, tripping every once in a while on a difficult move, but was quite good and looked like she had done it her entire life. The next song was a bit slower, and didn't have as much bass to it. she stopped in the middle and started doing a dance, stretching out muscles that she hadn't used like this in a long time. When this one ended, she was practically against the trees. She decided to do a tumbling line to a log that was fallen in the middle of the clearing. So before the next song started, she did a running start and started doing a series of floor exorcises.

"Tohru!" Shigure called out, trying to catch her attention before the next song started, but accidentally made her trip and end up rolling very fast to the log, making her land with her lower back draped over the log and her groaning in pain. Shigure flinched at her landing and resulting hard grunt before running out from behind his cover to check if she was severely injured. "Tohru!" he called again, kneeling by her side, but not touching, "are you alright?"

Her eyes snapped open, revealing a stormy turquoise instead of the calm that they usually showed. She looked at Shigure before closing her eyes again and doing a back-flip off the log just to do a face-plant into the luckily soft dirt. "what are you doing out here?" she asked, trying to be as polite as possible, "that hurt!" she muttered under her breath.

"making sure that you didn't hurt yourself or anything," He glanced worriedly at her back, "and to be a pair of ears if you want to say anything, but first did you injure your back when you landed?"

Tohru kept her face in the dirt, but her hand went to the back of her shirt and lifted it off her lower back, revealing white binding bandages underneath. "Is there any blood?" she asked, allowing the perverted writer to peer oh-so-nearly to her behind, but the writer was a good boy (for once) and only inspected the area that was revealed to be bandaged.

He ran his fingers over the bandaging, wondering if it was hiding more than just her attributes, but something on her back instead. There was, in fact, some blood starting to seep through on her lower left side in the general shape of a crescent. "yes, there is some blood starting to come through. If you can get up, we should go back to the house and have Ha'ri look at it."

"No!" Tohru yelled, bringing her face and torso out of the dirt, putting strain on the injury. "that hurt," she said as she put her body back down. "no," she started again, "its fine, I don't need Hatori-san to look at it. Besides, it's just an old injury that refuses to close anyway, nothing special." This time she raised herself up without bending her back and stood up. "see, I'm fine. All I need to do is put new bandages on and I'll be fine."

She took a step and winced, Shigure saw this and came to step beside the teen, "yes, you look fine now, with pain shooting up your back in every step," he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "but at least let me help you with the bandages, unless there's something on your back that you don't want others to see. Come to think of it, you even wore a one-piece to the hot springs (haven't seen that episode yet, so I'm assuming). How long have you had those bandages on anyway?" Shigure silently started supporting Tohru's walk as much as he could without transforming.

"longer than I've known you guys. In fact, this happened before mom left even, so its old." She gestured to her back and continued walking, grabbing her small boom box on the way and shutting it off.

They walked a few minutes in silence before Shigure could say something new, "what caused your original injury, if I may ask, Tohru," it looked like a crescent, but it could have been any number of things.

"I fell off something, and that something stepped on me because it didn't like me." Tohru said simply, implying that what she said had more than just the literal meaning. Shigure nodded, knowing not to continue the subject.

They reached the steps before Tohru spoke again, "yeah, you can help me if you want, but don't tell anyone what you saw, okay?" Shigure nodded and set the both of them on the front step so he could remove his shoes, but then realized that Tohru was seemingly without any the entire time.

"you didn't wear any shoes while you did that, are your feet okay?" he asked, pulling off one shoe.

"shoes would have just been clunky. But I did wear a leather sole so they wouldn't get cut up," Tohru lifted her foot up slightly to reveal a leather triangle on the pads of her foot and took it off for Shigure to have a closer look. There was a loop on one of the rounded corners for the middle toe to go through and a pair of strings off the other two corners to secure it so it wouldn't move too much. "since humans don't have the pads on their feet like most mammals do, some people use these so their feet aren't injured so easily. It takes a while to get used to, but they are helpful." She took off the other one and stuffed them in her pocket, leaving her feet completely bare.

"go up and lay on your bed and I'll get some bandages for you, okay?" Tohru nodded and walked to the stairs, hiding her pain very well by now. After watching her go up the stairs, Shigure went into the kitchen to get a bowl of warm clean water and a towel to clean off the blood.

"what are you doing Shigure?" Kyo asked, eyeing him from the television room curiously.

"I'm taking Tohru some water so we can clean off an injury that I accidentally caused by breaking her concentration. Who knew we had a gymnast in our lovely house?" he asked, grabbing a roll of bandages on his way upstairs.

* * *

"Tohru, I brought bandages," Shigure said, knocking on her door. A small groan was his response and he took it as an 'enter.' He opened the door slowly, just in case the groan really wasn't an 'enter' and revealed Tohru on her stomach propped up on her pillows with her tank top tied so it wouldn't reveal anything but her stomach/back.

Shigure sat down beside her on the bed and touched her shoulder, "hey, are you alive?" he joked, putting the bowl of water on her bedside table.

"there were times when I wish I wasn't," Tohru answered in hopefully just a joking manner. There was no reply, so Tohru looked up into Shigure's face to just see a slightly saddened look. "I said 'were' Shigure. It's you guys that make me want to live after all those times when I thought I was nothing," she said, trying to cheer up the inu. After it didn't work, Tohru sighed and started to remove her bandages for Shigure to clean.

"just, please, don't be surprised with what you see. I'm used to it and its not as bad as it looks," she looked away, facing her back to Shigure as the last bit of wrapping came away, revealing a crescent-shaped wound that was bleeding, more like oozing, softly but insistently. There was a gauze pad over the wound that was soaked through and Tohru grabbed it before it fell on her pink covers.

Shigure raised his eyebrows at the marking, including the pink scars near the ends of the crescent, it looked just like a horseshoe. But what was even stranger was that there was a faded tattoo in the center of the constellation Taurus. "I must admit, I'm not surprised at this, but I still want Ha'ri to look at it anyway. And I wouldn't peg you for a person to have a tattoo, let alone one like that."

"it's not a tattoo, It's a birthmark. Well, actually, a couple of years ago, there were parts inked in, but its mostly a birthmark." It was true, where the stars of Taurus were supposed to be, were brown freckles, and then there was a red outline of the bull's head and front legs likened to a type of birthmark called a Hemangeoma. Tohru bit her lower lip as Shigure used the hydrogen peroxide and cleaned off the blood, but soon he put the bandages on, wrapping it just tight enough to keep them from slipping.

"are there others that have markings like you?" Shigure asked, hoping not to raise Tohru's suspicion.

"just like mine, no. but there are others," Tohru gave, knowing his game already and not wanting to give the answers without some mystery at least.

* * *

Yeah, another chapter! And, surprisingly, someone has figured out my clues already, and you know who you are! And by the fifth chapter, if you don't get it, you need to get out more. I forgot this last chapter: I don't even have one manga, so why would I own it? dark 


	3. Taurus

Zeus, the king of the gods, was a lover, plain and simple. He loved his fellow goddesses, the beautiful nymphs, and even mortal women, for they were his favorite. One day, from Mt. Olympus, he spotted the fair Hellenic princess, Europa. She was the beloved daughter of Tyre, and was thus protected by her own personal guards very well. Well, Zeus loved a challenge, almost as much as his love for women; so, he tried to figure out how to get the beautiful maiden away from her protectors.

His answer: disguising himself as a bull. But, no, this was no ordinary bull, what 'king of the gods' would ever want to be plain? This bull was special, his fir was as white as the new-fallen snow, and his horns shone in only a way that real gold could. Well, he flew down into Tyre's heard of cattle and transformed into his marvelous disguise. It just so happened that Europa was taking a stroll that passed between the pastures and sea, when she spotted the marvelous specimen out in the field. She was so enamored with the mysterious creature that she walked toward it, intent on petting it. The bull complied quickly, and kneeled down, exposing his back so she could climb on for a ride.

"What a tame bull!" she thought as the bull started walking around with her on his back, until they got to the sea. But instead of turning around and heading back to the others in the heard, he leapt into the sea before the young girl could protest. By the time they surfaced, they were too far out to for Europa to get off, so she clung to the devious creature's back for dear life.

By the time that the bull had reached dry land, it was an island called Crete. Zeus changed back to his true form and realized that he could not take her away from the land that she loved, but by then it was too late. He instead let her marry the island's king, Asterius, and bore him three sons. To commemorate his adventure, he painted his portrait as the swimming bull in the stars. Some say that the constellation represents love, strength and beauty.

* * *

"It's not a tattoo, It's a birthmark. Well, actually, a couple of years ago, there were parts inked in, but it's mostly a birthmark." It was true, where the stars of Taurus were supposed to be, were brown freckles, and then there was a red outline of the bull's head and front legs likened to a type of birthmark called a Hemangeoma. Tohru bit her lower lip as Shigure used the hydrogen peroxide and cleaned off the blood, but soon he put the bandages on, wrapping it just tight enough to keep them from slipping.

"Are there others that have markings like you?" Shigure asked, hoping not to raise Tohru's suspicion.

"Just like mine, no. But there are others," Tohru gave, knowing his game already and not wanting to give the answers without some mystery.

"Others, like how?" Shigure knew the game well, and he had found a new person to play.

Tohru sat up, pulling her shirt down to cover the bandages, "my mother's name was the red butterfly, but that was just her reputation, not her birthright. My dad was interested in her because of that name." She turned to Shigure, putting on her best smile, "I should get dinner ready, by now you guys should be starving!" she was back to her airhead-like ways and skipped down the stairs, promptly missing the bottom one with a thump and landing on her butt. Shigure shook his head before standing up to go after Tohru, she had changed the subject on purpose, and he hoped she knew what she was doing keeping a secret from him and the others. But what did her mother have to do with any of this?

* * *

They sat down to dinner and, as usual, Tohru cooked her most wonderful meal (at least at the boy's opinion). And as usual, she blushed like she had never been commented before.

"That thing at lunch, what you did with that door, how did you do that?" Kyo asked, gesturing an up and down motion like swiping a card. For a moment, she had a questioning gaze while staring at her rice before recalling what she had done.

Tohru groaned quietly, realizing her secret was out, and stood up from the table and grabbed her school bag, fishing out a wallet and holding it up for the others to see, "is this what you meant Kyo-kun?" he nodded and she rejoined the table while putting the 'wallet' down beside her place setting. After a few deep breaths and some rice, she flipped it open easily with one hand and laid it flat for everyone to see. "It's a lock-pick kit that my mother gave me before…. She taught me to use it in emergencies only, and getting off the roof through the access was one of them." She gave a small smile and continued, "I practice on my own locks sometimes, but I wouldn't dare unlock anything of yours without permission!" she exclaimed with feigned panic.

Shigure looked over the open wallet, seeing different picks and screws, each in their own holder, but there was one that seemed empty and would hold a credit card. "What goes in here Tohru-kun?" he asked, holding the wallet up and pointing to the empty space. She hurriedly grabbed the wallet and mentally ticked off every tool, pointing to each one in turn, before getting to the empty space.

"the card!" she exclaimed, digging into her bag to find the last tool, but just resulted in dumping out the complete thing in her haste. At last, when the boys starting asking themselves if there even was a bottom to her bag, for she was waste-deep in it, she pulled herself out and held up the card like a prize. "this is it!" she exclaimed, showing it to them before placing it back into its allotted place.

"that is one of the only things that mom gave me when she was teaching me to pick. She made it herself out of an old credit-card offer she got in the mail." Tohru rubbed off some of the wax that seemed to cling to the edge from when she used it to smooth a project's surface with it. "she told me that if I was in a hurry and it was a simple lock, this was a lot faster and easier to use than the picks," Tohru blushed and put it away in her bag along with her spilled papers. "maybe I can show you sometime," she offered absently, not even wanting to see the boys looks as they found out something new about her.

"well, that was my lesson of the day," Shigure managed to say after a minute of silence around the low table, "I think I'll go get back to work." Tohru nodded absently as Shigure stood up and she took in his plates to be washed. The others soon followed his example and left to do their homework in their rooms.

* * *

"Hey, Kyo, Are you up here?" Tohru asked, her head poking over the edge of the roof, the cat sat up slightly and nodded, grabbing her wrist to pull her the rest of the way up from the ladder. After she sat down, Kyo laid back down and looked back up at the stars with his arms behind his head.

"They're beautiful," Tohru commented, looking up at the stars also.

"Hmm?" Kyo prompted, looking at the girl through the corner of his eye.

"The stars, they're beautiful. Millions of people have looked up at them and each one has their own favorite. And there's also so many stories, like Hercules and the northern cross," she shuddered, from what Kyo thought was the cold, " and I think the most famous is Orion and his belt." She pointed out each constellation in turn. "Each one shines differently and in their own way, a lot like humans, but they are all special. Do you have a favorite, Kyo?"

"No, not really. But master once taught me how to read the stars, and that one's directly north," Kyo pointed to a brighter star and Tohru started giggling lightly.

"Actually, that one's pointing north-east right now. Ursa Major's tail is the North Star right now… but you probably know it better as the big dipper, right? See, there's the handle and there's the bowl part of it," she pointed to each part in turn, tracing the shape of the bear. Kyo looked at her, astonished, he didn't know that she had a specialty to share, aside from cooking. "I never really paid much attention when I was learning this, but I know the basics."

Kyo looked around and spotted a cluster of stars near the horizon, hoping to stump her knowledge, "what's that one?"

"The cluster or the constellation? Either one marks the spring. The cluster is called the seven sisters, and the constellation is Taurus. Both of them have stories if you're willing to listen to them, like people."

"then what's your story?" Kyo asked, startling Tohru so much she started to slide down the roof and Kyo had to catch her again.

"what?" she exclaimed, being completely caught off guard.

"your story. You've never told us about your past before, so…" he trailed off, looking into the woods like they had all the answers.

"do you really want to know? Would you still want to know me after you find out how much of a freak I really am?" Kyo was shocked at her put-down, but nodded anyway.

Tohru nodded back and took a deep breath, "the word 'zodiac' literally translates from roman language as 'circle of creatures', though some may be more animalistic than others, the world revolves in circles. Sorry, that's probably just confusing you, so I'll just tell you what happened: I'm from a large family that couldn't care less about me, actually, it's a group of about ten or fifteen families that are connected in one way or another if not by blood. my mom was excommunicated by her family and was, to a point, adopted by my father's family, much like me and your family.

It was no accident that my mother died, even though it looked that way and I tried to believe it an accident myself, but mother and I had been threatened many times during the months before by someone I will call Zeus for now.

Let me back up," Tohru slumped for a second, trying to hold back the painful tears. "I used to entertain with some of my family members backing me up. I got injured and that's when the threats started." Kyo listened uncharacteristically patiently, as he learned about the girl he thought he knew.

"at first, they were small things like being locked up in solitude until I healed, but after a while, when the injury wasn't healing, the threats got worse, encompassing everyone that I knew if I didn't get back onto the horse that threw me… so to say. So we ran, momma smuggled me out one night when the guards were distracted, thanks to my cousins, and left." Tohru was staring out in a particular direction that Kyo thought had nothing there.

"my cousins and everyone, Uo and Hana, were sworn to secrecy. And now someone's cracked and told. I don't know who, but they wanted me to be hurt and I do." Tohru broke down in sobs and ran to the ladder, which was thankfully connected to the ground because she wouldn't have been able to look at the others.

She ran. She ran out into the dark forest, seeming to think, or not think, that it would prove some comfort away from the people that thought her of some almost inhumanly happy person that couldn't be brought down. Oh, how they were wrong.

Kyo was in shock, how could someone, her own family of all, treat her like that? Threaten others to get her to do something she didn't want. Scratch that, his own family treated him that way, so that defeated that line of thought. People got hurt in a family like his, and apparently in hers also. What was the world coming to? Wait, she said injury? What injury? She didn't look hurt!

Tohru collapsed, she didn't care anymore. As soon as they found out the entire truth about her, they would kick her out, even if Akito did allow her to stay, the rest would kick her out. She wasn't a murderer or a thief or, officially, a Yankee, but she was different nonetheless. What she didn't notice was that with each sob that she cried into the dirt, a pulse went through it. the pebbles started swirling slowly, bouncing like something heavy was pounding on the ground. She never noticed when this happened, but the hard, firm ground had always comforted her in ways that humans couldn't.

In the distance, she heard a rumbling sound and then a howling sound that indicated a typical spring-time landslide from the melting snow uphill saturating the ground.

* * *

"did you hear that? There's been another landslide by the cliff," Shigure looked at yuki, then at Kyo as he entered by himself looking pensive. "where's Tohru? I thought she was with you." Kyo shook his head no and Shigure's eyes widened at what could have possibly happened to their sweet flower.

"we have to go…" Shigure trailed off, seeing the two boys had already left for the forest. He stopped just long enough for him to slip on his shoes before taking chase and quickly catching up, pointing them in the right direction of where he assumed Tohru would be since she was there earlier that day.

When they got there, they saw the landslide and Tohru's footprints seemingly up to and under the large pile of stones and dirt that was previously part of the cliff. "Tohru! Tohru!" the boys called, looking around and hoping that she hadn't been buried under the slide that would kill anyone trapped underneath.

"I'm here," came Tohru's voice from the tree line, she was hidden in half-shadows from the trees so only half of her profile could be seen. She didn't sound like her usual optimistic self and more like she had been crying, for truth she had been and had come to see what the noise was.

"Tohru-kun!" yuki exclaimed, letting his voice express what he couldn't physically, "you're alright!" his eyes traveled to the pile to Tohru and back again, silently thanking whatever gods that would listen for sparing her from the slide.

Tohru nodded silently, giving a small smile, before walking up to the dirt and kneeling down beside it. 'charred marks, this wasn't a normal landslide,' she thought, "lets go back, I'm fine now. I-I just needed to get some air, that's all," she looked back at the dirt briefly, as if listening for something. "actually, you guys go ahead, I'll follow in a couple minutes," she gave her best smile and shooed them off toward home.

Tohru stood by the pile, smiling, until the boys were out of sight before turning back and kneeling down for a better look and fingering the charred piece. "its wood charred, an old fire, good. That means that it wasn't explosives. If they found my location, I'll be like this piece of coal when they get done with me," Tohru mumbled, scanning the dirt for a sturdy rock to use to direct her focus.

What she didn't know, is that the boys were watching the entire time, not wanting her to get hurt by staying by the unstable cliff. Once Tohru had turned back around, they took a quiet about-face into the bushes around the clearing. "what is our little flower doing, I wonder," Shigure whispered, partly to himself, and silently dodged two blows to his head from his younger cousins for his flower remark.

"show me," Tohru whispered, using this small incantation to find the focusing stone. In her mind's eye, it glowed, showing itself about six inches down from the top of the pile. Meaning that she would have to get dirty to find it. only giving a second's hesitation concerning her clothes, she climbed the dirt hill to the stone. Yuki's eyes widened at her movements, worrying that she would fall and get hurt on one of the sharper stones, but Tohru was actually getting around on it like a mountain goat.

"there," she mumbled to herself, rubbing the clingy dirt off of the stream-polished stone with her fingers before holding it up to the moonlight. "last time I was a baka, but this time I'm covering up my tracks," she said then jumped the seven feet to the ground. She more or less danced to the edge of the clearing before raising her hands with the rust-colored transparent stone between both of them.

The ground began to rumble, like with an earthquake, as Tohru closed her eyes to her surroundings. Kyo tried to jump out of the bushes to save Tohru from the second landslide, but was held back by Shigure holding onto the straps of his cargo pants. "no, watch," was all he said as he briefly peeled his eyes off of the mysterious Tohru, "I have a feeling we may learn something about her tonight yet." After a second, Kyo stole another look at the girl before settling back down the bush opposite Yuki.

* * *

I swear, this story will get better. I don't know much about fruits basket, thus I do not own, dark 


	4. Gemini

There was once a pair of twins that were born from a swan's egg. The two were named Pollux and Caster. Their mother was seduced by one of Zeus's many disguises: the swan. Pollex was his immortal son, but Caster was sired by a human father (Tyndareus). They were inseparable, even in Caster's death, Pollux followed his brother into the afterworld. They were raised to be hunters by the centaur Chiron, the great teacher, and later joined Jason and his Argonauts for the Golden Fleece.

After a while with the Argonauts, the twins decided to settle down and get married. They set their eyes on the two, unfortunately, married daughters of Sparta's king. The girls were married to two of the twin's cousins, but that didn't stop them from stealing them away. The men seemed not to mind the 'wife switch' because several years later the two pairs decided to do a joint cattle raid. The tension between the family members was finally released when they tried to divide the cattle among themselves.

One of the cousins, Idas, had an idea. He cut one of the cows into four pieces and said that the pair that finished their pieces first would get the cattle. The twins were caught off guard, having a big breakfast and all, and watched their cousins eat their way into all of the stolen profits. Idas and the other cousin, Lynceus, won the entire herd and left the twins with nothing but their wounded pride.

Caster and Pollux quickly swore to get back at their devious cousins and get back their share of the cattle. During the fight to regain their share, Idas killed Caster (the mortal son) with a spear. Enraged over the loss of his other half, Pollux pursued and killed Lynceus with a single blow. Just as Idas was trying to take revenge for his cousin's life, Zeus came to his son's aid and killed Idas with a thunderbolt. The immortal son, Pollux, begged to die by his father's hand so his could be with his brother again. Zeus had a weak spot for his children's lives and couldn't kill him. So, instead, he brought Caster's soul back and placed both of them in the sky as the constellation Gemini as well as making them both gods, patrons of athletes and protectors of sailors. The brothers shared power over the wind and waves, but each also had their individual interests on earth. Caster watched over horse riders, and Pollux over boxing and battles.

* * *

The ground began to rumble, like with an earthquake, as Tohru closed her eyes to her surroundings. Kyo tried to jump out of the bushes to save Tohru from the second landslide, but was held back by Shigure holding onto the straps of his cargo pants. "no, watch," was all he said as he briefly peeled his eyes off of the mysterious Tohru, "I have a feeling we may learn something about her tonight yet." After a second, Kyo stole another look at the girl before settling back down the bush opposite Yuki.

Raising her hands in a swaying motion, Tohru gestured to the ground and the dirt rose up in the air like it was possessed. It looked like a brown wave as it swept up and partially surrounded the girl. She stepped forward and in a pushing motion, the dirt created a wave that swept the entire clearing in a cover of brown/gray. After the dust settled, Tohru opened her eyes and looked around, admiring that the ground was now flat and footprint-free. Taking a partial step forward, Tohru collapsed to the ground in a delirious giggle.

"one more thing," she said, holding up one finger as if she was talking to someone. She then touched the ground with her stretched out finger and up sprung a carpet of green, covering the previously brown clearing. "pretty," she mumbled, slumping forward slightly for a few seconds while the previously floating rock fell to the ground directly in front of the passed out Tohru.

This time both boys tried to jump out of the bushes, but Shigure held them both back with a surprising amount of strength and mouthed 'watch' before setting them both down. Kyo's eyes flashed dangerously, but he didn't move. After a few seconds, Tohru groaned and put her hand up to her face, "must've overdone it that time. The boys must be back home by now," she groaned again and stood up shakily. The 'boys' looked at each other like 'oh, crap' and took off running for the house as silently as they could.

Tohru looked at the brushes as she heard a rustle, but shrugged it off as nothing as her body tried to convince her to sit down again. Realizing that she had blacked out and didn't know how long, she ran to the house, not even bothering to take the path and cut straight through to hopefully not be too far behind the boys.

She got to the house and saw… no one. The property was empty of any human population whatsoever. Weird. Catching her breath, she went inside, maybe they were in there waiting for her in there? A rustling in the bushes told her different as she turned around on the porch to greet Shigure as he fought his way out of the bushes. 'what the…' Shigure thought as he caught sight of Tohru, "my little flower! How did you beat us to the house, we weren't that slow, were we?" he asked playfully as Kyo and yuki stepped out from the bush also.

"I, uh, I took a shortcut!" Tohru exclaimed, inside slapping herself for even telling a partial lie. In her pocket, the rust-colored focus stone pulsed slightly, as if chastising Tohru for telling a lie.

They all sensed her hesitancy and yuki took it upon himself to ask what they were all thinking, "Honda-kun, why did you tell us to go ahead without you?"

"I saw something in the dirt," she said, putting on her cheerful façade, "it turned out to be nothing except some burned wood, so I ran to catch up to you, and here I am," she exclaimed, holding her hands wide.

The boys didn't believe it for an instant, leaving an uncomfortable silence in her wake. "well, I'm going to bed. You all should also, you have school tomorrow and you don't want to be late!" Shigure sang the last part, leaving the three teenagers to their own. After a few seconds, they slowly followed their guardian's advice and left for their individual rooms, Tohru following last.

A blinking caught her eye from the hallway phone. It was the answering machine with a message. They were only gone about fifteen minutes, so who could have called? Curiosity got the better of her and Tohru pushed the 'play' button._ "Toh-chan? if you're there, pick up. If not, call 'Ni (like Nye)when you get in. its important."_

Tohru looked at the clock, 9:16, early enough in the night to call back. "who was that Tohru-kun?" Shigure asked, poking his head into the hallway curiously with a writing brush in his mouth, "and did you understand a word they said?"

Tohru nodded her head, the message was in English but she understood it perfectly fine. "one of my cousins got this number and called while we were gone. He speaks Japanese perfectly fine, but likes English a bit better between family members. Can I use your phone, Shigure?" she asked, looking at him from staring down at the phone, daring it to ring.

"my phone is your phone."

Tohru nodded in response and quickly dialed a number, waiting for it to pick up. The person on the other end picked it up after the first ring, surprising Tohru.

"moshi moshi, Yoshida speaking." The person on the other side answered in Japanese.

(Japanese, _English_) "Yoshida, am I glad you answered! _Did you call me?_" Tohru leaned her back against the wall.

"_Toh, Toh-chan? My little baby cousin responded to my call_!" came the exuberant male voice from the other end, reminding Tohru of a certain albino snake.

"_I'm only a year younger than you_!" Tohru slumped down the wall, careful to take the base of the phone with her so the entire thing wouldn't crash onto the floor_, "now, what did you need to call me for_?"

"_can't I just call my baby…"_

"_no_!" Shigure looked up from his work, he definitely knew that English word. Tohru must be having an argument or something.

"_I mean, no, people are trying to sleep and I should be getting to bed soon anyway_," Tohru whispered into the phone, hoping that she hadn't woken anyone up.

"_fine,_" you could hear the pout in his voice_, "Cygnus didn't show up to lessons today, she may be hunting for you._"

"_I knew that. She's the 'new girl' at my school now. And I think she's getting her own fan club, too,_" Tohru couldn't help but grin at remembering how much trouble the 'yuki fan club' could be for the mouse sometimes.

"_goody_," there was no enthusiasm in his voice whatsoever, "_tomorrow, Yohiko and I will offer to drive birdie-girl to school to check things out, okay?"_

Tohru nodded, but quickly realized that she was on the phone, "_ok, but what about Joe?_"

"_Joe's still at university and won't be able to visit until your time, but we can still be the three amigos until then_!" some of the energy was coming back into his voice.

"_oh, how's Joe doing anyway_?" Tohru asked, in complete gossip mode.

"_he's studying as hard as ever and still freaks at the smallest thing."_

Tohru giggled a little before remembering what time it was_, "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Yoshida! Come early so we can talk before I have to go to class, okay?"_

"_yeah, cool, bye."_

"_bye." _Tohru hung up the phone and shook her head, it was good to know that some things didn't change after nearly two years.

"does our little flower have a boyfriend, hmm?" Shigure asked, leaning out of his study, this time without a brush.

"no!" Tohru could feel her face get red, "we're cousins, that's all!" Shigure gained a gleam in his eye, just telling her that he didn't believe her.

"well, goodnight then."

"…goodnight."

* * *

Tohru came to school the next morning with… minimal trouble. She had used the excuse that she had to check something out with another classmate on a subject she didn't understand and couldn't ask the boys about. Luckily, Yuki had a student counsel meeting that morning and walked Tohru to school so she wouldn't be by herself.

"thanks for walking me to school Yuki-kun, I'll see you later. I have to wait for them out here, okay?" Tohru motioned at the front gate after she finished pinning her hair up into a bun. Yuki looked at her strangely for a moment before shaking his head to clear the mental image.

"you look like someone I saw once on the television… I think her name was Taurus Celeste."

"I knew her… at one time. We were very close." Tohru looked away, down the street, giving a silent signal that she didn't want to talk about it. With a bye, Yuki left Tohru by the front gate to meet the mysterious classmate.

Tohru heard them before she saw them. The green/brown jeep raced down the street and came to a sudden stop in front of the school, knocking off some of the dust to show the outline of a bull's head on the tire cover on the back. "I will never…!" came a female voice from the vehicle before the canvas-covered door banged open to reveal a white figure step out in a snowy fury and slap the driver. She walked past Tohru in a huff and two peals of laughter came from the confines of the jeep.

"_don't torture the poor bird, she can't fly away from a roofed car!_" Tohru play mocked, shaking her finger in a mother-type way. The engine shut off and a man stepped out the driver's door to undo the canvas off of the top to reveal his laughing twin in the back seat.

"_that was good_!" the one in the back seat said, vaulting over the side of the jeep as the other was putting the canvas away in the trunk before standing by his brother.

"_Toh-chan, its good to see you…"_

"_you're a skirt_!" Yoshida cut in, grabbing his cousin in a bear hug, hiding the slight flip of the mini that he did to emphasize his point.

Tohru pushed him away to arms length and looked him up and down, _"your taller than me now, when did this happen_?" she looked over at Yohiko, "_and you too!_"

Yohiko walked over and gave a side hug, discreetly brushing down the back of the skirt to prevent embarrassment in school. She felt this touch to her rump and Kyo came just in time to see her backhand the both of them. "_what do you two think you were doing_!" Tohru mocked, spinning out of both their embraces to stand out of arm range. "sorry Yo-Yo, but its almost time for school," she spotted a fuming Kyo, "and one of my friends is standing right behind you and looks about to bash your heads in."

"Oh, hi Uo, Han…" Yoshida turned around so see not the girls, but a fuming red-head, "…a…"

"Don't call her chan," Kyo gritted out through his teeth before grabbing Tohru's upper arm and dragging her to the gate.

"_Como un Toro! Bye_!" Tohru waved her hand and Kyo gave her a strange look.

"Como un Toro?" Kyo asked loosening his grip a little.

"Nothing!" Tohru blushed, turning away to try to hide her embarrassment. After a few moments of Kyo's eyes on her back, Tohru sighed, "they're my cousins. They wanted to bring Cyg-Sylvia to school today to make sure I was alright. They're both really nice when you get to know them, if only a little like a mix between Ayame and Shigure." Kyo shuddered at that thought, Shigure was enough, but get both of them in the same room and all hell would break loose.

"_Toh-chan has the strangest taste in friends_," Yohiko said, jumping into the passenger seat.

"_yeah_," Yoshida agreed, turning the engine and driving off.

* * *

"what, you mean Yo-Yo was here this morning and you didn't tell me! But I had something to give them!" Uo said, making a fist and punching the air in front of Tohru.

"they drove Cygnus to school this morning, I didn't find out until right before I was going to bed last night."

"they kidnapped me is more like it!" Cygnus put in her two cents, sitting down behind yuki. Yep, new fan club member.

"then next time why don't you fly to school, birdie?" Uo bit back, standing in front of Tohru protectively.

The bell rang and the students ran to their seats, "we'll finish this at lunch, Apis wannabe," Cygnus hissed before turning to the front.

* * *

"okay, what's an Apis or whatever she called you?" Kyo asked, not liking the feeling of being left out of something _twice_ in the same day. Tohru gave a glance over to Hana and grabbed an onigirii that she had packed for her lunch, silently giving her permission to answer the question.

"in plain words, the swan called Tohru a bull shit." Uo explained simply, leaning back against one of the trees in the schoolyard.

"the Apis bull was a sacred cow in ancient Egypt that had unique markings in specific colors. Tohru, Taurus…" hana stopped, sensing unwelcome denpa waves nearby, "hello Cygnus."

She came into the area and sat down across from Tohru, but not before stealing the rest of her lunch. "fate" she nodded to hana in greeting.

"_sure you don't want anything tainted, birdie_?" Tohru asked, hurt that she didn't hide her lunch.

"you're right, they are dirty. I should throw them away," Cygnus commented in clear Japanese, chucking them straight back to the dirt in front of Tohru. Taking a deep breath, Tohru gathered up the rice and placed it back onto her napkin to throw away later. It was no good to eat now. Kyo and Yuki clenched their fists, wishing that Cygnus was a boy so they could beat her up with how she was treating _their_ Tohru.

Uo started getting up to pound on the bird, but with a simple blink Tohru told her to sit back down. She obeyed grudgingly. "so, how are you doing with your dancing? I heard that you are going to play the swan, how exciting," Tohru asked, shifting to a more comfortable position against the chain-link fence.

"fine, your art?" Cygnus hissed, staring Tohru down, trying to intimidate her.

"good, but I haven't done any lately." Tohru smoothed out her skirt, "you know, that doesn't work against me. I can be very _mule_-headed sometimes," all the light in her eyes had gone out as she stared right back.

"uh-oh," Uo whispered, even though she didn't have to, "they're already at it."

"Yes, they are," Hana saw the confused look in the boy's eyes and decided to explain, "ever since they were three, they have fought each other. It started after their father died and over little things like their favorite doll, but now its over who should inherit his money, and who has to get married to the man that he picked for them. So far, Cygnus has the money and is spending it foolishly."

"as much as you two fight with your fists, they fight with their minds… or something like that," Uo tried to explain, looking between the two statuesque girls. Suddenly, a wind came up and whipped everything around, centering around the pale girl. Tohru winced a little as a sharp twig glanced her cheek and held down her skirt. Cygnus' icy eyes burned with anger and the wind increased in speed, starting to snap off branches from the surrounding trees.

Tohru didn't move much as she studied the wind pattern, watching for the perfect moment. A large branch came whizzing to her head and Tohru held up her arms, creating a dirt/grass shield from the projectile. It bounced out and Hana easily ducked as it flew by her head to land in a bush. Tohru saw her moment and flicked her hand, sending the dirt into the cyclone along with a few large rocks.

The rocks were only a few feet away when… the bell rang. The wind immediately stopped and the dirt fell lifelessly to the ground. Tohru stood up, brushing off her skirt, before offering Cygnus a hand. "are the boys picking you up this afternoon?" Tohru asked civilly, walking back to the school.

"yes, unless I want to _fly_ home," Sylvia answered just as politely.

"good, I would like to talk to them again, I was cut short this morning," the girls nodded to each other and walked side-by-side back to the classroom.

"ha-ha-ha! You should see the looks on your faces!" Uo laughed, pointing at the two dumbstruck zodiacs.

"it seems that this battle was lost," Hana observed, watching the two walk off.

"but not the war," Uo finished, sobering up a little and throwing away Tohru's ruined lunch in a trash can.

* * *

"_woo-ho-ho! Toro_!" came the call of a certain guy standing up on the back seat of a moving jeep, holding onto the roll-bar like a life-line.

"oh, no…"

"_hey guys_!" Tohru waved as the jeep came to a stop and the standing boy jumped down and swung Tohru around in a circle.

"…I think I'm gonna be sick," Cygnus held her head and groaned at the prospect of another ride with the twins. The zodiacs looked on, all thinking along the lines of 'who are they?' with the two mystery boys that Tohru obviously knew.

"_how long has it been since I have seen this little wild child_?" the boy asked, setting Tohru down from her spin-cycle.

"this morning, but before that, two years," Tohru replied, recovering from the spin.

"hear that, Yohiko, two long, antagonizing, painful years since she's been tamed by the outside world of town life!" Yoshida exclaimed, backing against the jeep in a pretend faint.

"_how's your back doing_?" the driver asked, rolling his eyes at his brother.

"_I'm doing better, Yohiko, just a little mark now, but there's a scar though_," Tohru walked over and jumped onto the back corner of the jeep.

"ahem!" someone coughed to get Tohru's attention, "who are these boys, Tohru?" Yuki asked, eyeing the one that acted like Shigure.

"oh, introductions!" Tohru stuck her tongue out to herself in embarrassment, "Yuki, Kyo, Momiji, and Haru, meet Yohiko –driving- and Yoshida- the loudmouth to my left… and you've met Sylvia." Tohru jumped down and went to the zodiacs, "Momiji is the blonde, Haru is in the same grade as Momiji, Yuki is the resident royalty, and you met Kyo this morning when he dragged me off."

Looking at Yuki, Yohiko raised an eyebrow and Yoshida took a grand bow, grabbing Yuki's hand and kissed it, "it is an honor to be in your presence, Yuki-hime."

"I'm a guy," Yuki clarified, taking his hand back and wiping it off on a handkerchief. It took a matter of seconds before Momiji and Haru fell to the ground, laughing hysterically.

"don't worry, that happens a lot!" Kyo explained through peals of laughter for the mouse, slapping Yohiko on the back.

Cygnus rolled her eyes, "I may just fly home instead of ride with these idiots," she mumbled, wrenching open the passenger door and slamming it closed.

"_welcome to the Ranchway express, please fashion all possessions to… somewhere… and we'll be off!"_ Yohiko said, turning the engine back on for the ride home and pulling out, unfortunately, Yoshida was still leaning on the back of the jeep when this happened and resulted in falling into the mud that was under the jeep.

"_hey! What about my ride?"_ Yoshida yelled at his brother, waving a fist in the air.

"_hitch one from Taurus! Ciao_!" Yohiko called back, waving without looking. Cygnus just sunk down in her seat with a groan.

"_furry dog with breathing problems..._" he mumbled to himself. Turning to Tohru, Yoshida sighed, "I guess I'm stuck with you, do you still have that ride?"

"yeah, but I don't know if it runs or not though. Sorry for inconveniencing you," she gave a small smile and turned to the rest of the group, "when we get home I'll make snacks, okay?" that earned a smile and 'race ya' from Momiji while the others just walked.

About a block down, Momiji noticed something was missing and turned around, "come on guys, your not running!" true, no one was. They were walking instead with Kyo leading and Tohru holding hands with Yoshida in back. "ooh! Tohru's got a boyfriend!" Momiji pointed out, running back to the group. Yuki and Kyo both looked back at the two and it really looked that way with Tohru talking and Yoshida laughing in response.

The two stopped when they noticed everyone's stares and separated to opposite sides of the sidewalk hesitantly. "what's your relation to Tohru-kun?" Kyo hissed, cornering the 'stranger' along with Yuki.

"look, man, I don't know your problem, but we're cousins, that's all. case closed, book shut, end of story dude," Yoshida explained, holding up his hands in defense.

"Hn," was all Kyo said as he and yuki grabbed Tohru's hands and practically dragged her down the street to their home.

"so…" Yoshida started, looking down at the blonde boy in the girl's school top, " I heard that Taurus was living with three boys, from one blonde to another (the twins had very dirty blonde hair), which one of you guys is it?"

"Taurus?… you mean Tohru, right?"

"Tohru, that's what she's goin' by these days?" Yoshida shook his head slightly, "yeah, Tohru, whatever."

"she lives with yuki and Kyo…"

"that could be trouble…"

"and a writer named Shigure. He's cool, but a little hentai." Momiji concluded with a nod from Haru.

"hentai? _Taurus, you live with a pervert_?" Yoshida yelled, running to catch up with the three, "_you're not going to live in conditions like that! Your too young to lose your innocence_!" Tohru flinched at the yelling, letting go of her 'guard's' hands.

"hey guys, I'm going to run ahead to get the snacks started, okay?" she asked, not even waiting for an answer before taking off in a life-or-death run. "_I like the conditions I live in!_" she yelled back before cutting into the woods.

Yoshida shook his head in disbelief before taking off after his cousin with renewed speed, but unfortunately not fast enough to get past the two boys. "what's your hurry, _Yoshida_, you don't like us?" Kyo asked, pinning the boy to the ground, "you want to take her back to your sick home so you can use her for your own wants, huh?" he continued, wrenching Yoshida's arm harder.

"it- its nothing like that! I haven't seen her in two years and I missed her! She's not who you think she is and I need to protect her from the rest of the family!" he grunted and tried to get out of the lock, "look, Tohru's family is whack, I know. The problem is, they found her and I'm here to make sure that they haven't done anything to her… yet," Yoshida mumbled, remembering what happened Tohru last time.

Yuki waved for Kyo to get off so he could take a turn, "what do you mean 'yet'?"

"just what I said, last time she went 'home' she got hurt, badly, and today she said that its still not healed completely. She's lucky that she can still walk with that injury." Yoshida brushed off the dirt that was on the front of his jean shirt and started down the path that Tohru took, "look, I can see that Tohru means a lot to you. Just take me to where you guys live so I can see if she's happy or not, okay?"

looking the boy up and down again, yuki nodded in consent and started down the path in front of everyone so they wouldn't get lost. Speaking of lost…

"umm… guys, Haru's gone."

* * *

Sorry for not updating for a while, but I had finals and writers block. Now, onto Birth Marks! Disclaimer: If you haven't heard of it before, it's mine, if you have, it isn't mine. Easy enough? Good.Horoscope profile: Gemini 

Name: Yohiko/Yoshida Hidama-Celeste

Alias: yo-yo, Gem, Ni (like Bill Nye the science guy), Caster, Pollex 

Age: 17

Relation: twins, second cousins to Tohru.

Elements: water/air

A pair of jokesters, they hang out with Tohru and Joe (you'll meet him later). They are ranch hands and very able with a horse and lasso. Yoshida is the vocal one that plays the guitar and Yohiko plays the drums.


	5. Cancer

**Honda constellations chapter 5 **

It was during the great hero Hercules' second great task, that Cancer is introduced to us. Hercules' task was to kill the great hydra that lived in the swamps of Lerna, for the king of Argos was sure that this would kill him. With the help of the goddess Athene, Hercules was able to find the monster to kill it. After the great struggle of Hercules cutting off its many heads and then re-growing it, the hydra called for help. The one that came to the hydra's rescue was its humble servant Cancer, the crab. Cancer bit into Hercules' foot, causing him to stand still while the hydra's immortal head went in for the kill. But instead, Hercules killed Cancer and then swung around his sword and killed the hydra's immortal head, killing the entire beast.

For his bravery and loyalty, the gods gave Cancer his own place in the night skies, but since he was unsuccessful in his task, his constellation is very dim. Or so the story goes.

(o)

"Umm… guys, Haru's gone."

"What do you mean 'gone'?" Yoshida asked, looking around for the two-tone.

"Gone. Haru has a really bad sense of direction. I'll go get him!" Momiji volunteered, hopping off the path and into the woods.

The blonde watched the boy go, shaking his head slowly. "Is he always like this?"

The two left over nodded in unison, continuing down the path. "It's hard to believe that he's almost 17 the way he acts."

"He reminds me of one of the kids at home, with all that hyperactivity and all. Her name's Lindsey, but we call her Lolo sometimes. Does Tohru talk about her family often?"

"No, we didn't know that she had family aside from her grandpa and her aunt's family before today." Kyo walked ahead slightly, worried that Tohru would get lost in the woods also.

"Surprising, and here she was, telling me all about you Sohma like she was obsessed, kitty-boy."

"What?" Kyo had snapped around and Yuki froze.

"What are you talking about Honda-san?" Yuki asked, trying to laugh it off and failing.

"First off, I'm not a 'Honda' as you assume, I'm a 'Hidama'. Also, she didn't spill your precious 'secret,' I knew as soon as I saw you. You both may look human, but you're not. A rat and a… a cat? You look more like an overgrown hairless rabbit to me…You're not exactly the run-of-the-mill family, are you? Maybe Tohru was right when she said that you guys would probably be the ones tha—ack!" Kyo pinned up Yoshida to the nearest tree, nearly cutting off his airflow.

"I'm a human, not a cat!" Kyo hissed, his eyes slitting like his feline counterpart.

"And I'm Santa Claus," Yoshida bit back, "just admit that you're different from everyone else. That's why Taurus likes you!" Kyo pressed harder, "and besides… if you weren't a cat, why do you have cat ears and a tail right now?" he smirked as his windpipe was released. "Good kitty!" and wham! Kyo punched the smirking boy into the bushes.

"Shut up and stay away from Tohru." Kyo stood up from his crouch and walked down the path, leaving the others

(o)

"Are you making it a habit to run home to me in the afternoons, my little flower?" Shigure grinned.

Tohru smiled back and shook her head, "no, I have a friend of mine visiting for a little while."

"Oh, is Saki done with the novel I gave her already?" Shigure asked, heading to the bookshelf to get the next book in his series for her.

"No, actually it's my cousin that I talked to on the phone last night."

"Your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend…" Tohru shook her head a little and went into the kitchen.

"_I thought we were more than that, my wild child_!" Yoshida called from just coming into the house. "_And after all those things I've done for you_!" he stuck out his hand toward Shigure, "I'm Yoshida Hidama, pleased to meet you." As soon as they shook, he followed Tohru into the kitchen, "I've_ cooked for you, bandaged your wounds—"_

"_That you caused."_

"_I've been your dance partner, your gymnastics partner—"_

"_And a rodeo clown, I know_." Tohru smiled and looked out of the corner of her eye, "_but you still can't cook."_

"_B-b-but… That hurt_!" Yoshida whined, sitting down on the floor of the kitchen.

Tohru laughed lightly and kneeled in front of the boy, "and yet, I still love you somehow—" She stroked his cheek before standing up.

"_So you do admit it_!"

"—like a brother." He fell back groaning. After all that up and hope, the ultimate put-down!

Tohru got out a footstool to get some crackers out of the cabinet, but Yoshida was quicker on the draw. Tohru was stunned for a moment, but smiled gently and sliced some cheese. "So, why did you come anyway?"

Yoshida was quiet for a moment before letting his arms fall over her shoulders and his chin on her head. "Oh, this and that…" he hoped for a nonchalant tone, "… they're really worried about you, you know."

"The Sohma are kind to me. I just hope that I can repay them someday for their kindness." Yoshida nodded and hunted through the cabinets to hide his face. "Just don't threaten them before you get to know them."

"Oi! That was the kitty-boy not me…!"

"We're here! And I found Haru!" Momiji called from the open shoji door and sat down around the table. Tohru gave her cousin an apologetic smile before taking up the snack platter and heading out to the others.

(o)

"_You sure_?"

"_Positive_."

"_And what about the others_?" Tohru looked around and sighed. They were bound to find out sooner or later, just later would have been nicer.

"_It was inevitable. Besides, I think some of them were_ SPYING on me yesterday_ anyway_." Tohru sighed and stepped off the porch, knowing that she had caught the others attention and would follow sooner or later.

About half way there, Tohru did an immediate about-face and caught a bush rustle dangerously, as if someone had just jumped into it. They both grinned, Tohru trying to cover with her hand, "Momiji, one bush over and you would have been in poison ivy." She giggled, "And I know everyone else is there also…" Momiji's blonde head peeked out, giving a sheepish grin with the others following.

"_Good thing you moved that bush then…"_

"_They have a doctor that's really good." _Tohru smiled and continued on like she was by herself.

They reached 'her' clearing soon enough and Tohru ran her fingers along the cliff base, as if trying to find something. Her fingernails snagged and with an 'aha!' she stepped back. Taking out the fist-sized stone that she found earlier, Tohru held it up to catch the sun's rays.

"Ready when you are." Tohru nodded and tossed the rock so that it hit the cliff wall. Almost immediately, the rocks began to shake, like in an earthquake, and split apart. It revealed the cave like a pair of shoji screens being pushed apart to reveal the room beyond.

The rumbling ceased.

"Well… you always had a flare for the dramatic, didn't ya?" Yoshida commented, shaking his head.

"_Would it have been better if I would have just said 'open sesame_'?" Tohru asked dryly, waving her hands like jazz hands. She walked forward, stumbling slightly at the expended energy.

"Ah, Honda-kun…" Yuki held up his hand as Tohru disappeared into the cave's entrance.

"AAAH!" Tohru's scream came from the cave entrance, followed by her running and jumping into Yoshida's arms. "R-r-ra-"

"Want me to take care of that?" Yuki asked, walking into the mouth of the cave, but not going into the dark. A second later, a whole family of large mice came out and surrounded Yuki's feet. "I think you can go in now."

Tohru nodded, blushing, "I-I wasn't scared, just… startled." Tohru mumbled, prodding Yoshida to let her down. She could easily see that the others didn't believe her as she skirted around Yuki and the mice to get into the cave. The Sohma stepped closer, curiosity getting the best of them.

"Aha!" there was a flash of a match before a low glowing filled the cave. "I knew that there was a lamp in here somewhere!" with the cave being lit up, the others could see that it went inside and curved slightly to the left.

There were a few crashes that sounded large and heavy. "H-hey Tohru, you need any help?" Kyo asked, stepping inside the cave slightly.

"No. Some things fell during the last landslide, that's all." Tohru explained, coming out dragging out a motorcycle beside her. "I just hope that this thing still works though."

To say that they were startled was an understatement. "I got this from my mom if you're wondering. And yes, I can drive it."

"_Like a madwoman…"_

"At least I haven't crashed it yet, unlike you who…" Tohru trailed off, lettings the Sohma come up with their own story about Yoshida. The younger ones had a clue, seeing the driving of the other twin in that jeep, but Shigure was only as lost as he would admit.

"That's Kyoko-san's bike?" Momiji asked in awe, admiring the red candy finish with the blue decal painted onto the front and gas tank. Tohru smiled and lifted up the seat compartment, taking out the key with a red butterfly key chain attached.

Tohru turned the bike on, as well as the taillights. "Who else has custom taillights?" she asked, dropping the seat and striking a slight pose with the bike. It was true; the lights were behind black cutouts of butterflies.

"Honda-kun, you might not want to turn on the engine." Yuki commented, eying the muffler. "There's a nest in the muffler that you need to get out."

"I needed to make sure this still works anyway, but you can help me with the muffler if you want, okay?" Yuki agreed and took hold of the handle bars. The twin cringed as Tohru put her hand over Yuki's. "It's sweet that you want to help move my bike, but I think I can handle it, okay?" Tohru gave the largest smile she could, but it did not reach her eyes.

Yuki nodded and let go, not quite knowing how to react to Tohru's… request? Threat? Sensing that the show was over, the Sohma boys started heading back to the house, Tohru in the midst, pushing her bike. "Wow, your Mutti really rode that?"

"And I can also. I didn't get much of mom's stuff when she died, but otherwise The Wing would have been scrapped or sold."

"What model is it?" Haru asked, trying to guess in his mind.

"Honda customized 1972…I think. It could be 73." Tohru saw Shigure's look. "From before mom and Katsuya got married. They were the slightest bit of obsessed with each other." Tohru held up her thumb and index finger in a pinching motion.

"Yeah! That's a story!" Yoshida called from the back. Tohru rolled her eyes and crossed the small stream using a particularly wide fallen tree that Tohru could barely cross with the bike.

Yoshida slapped an arm across Yuki's chest before he could cross the log, "Tohru'll never say this, but if you ever touch her bike again _Mickey Mouse_, you'll be in a world of hurt. She doesn't like anyone touching her bike unless you get a specific invitation. You were lucky to get away with a warning this time." Yuki said nothing but narrowed his eyes before ducking under Yoshida's arm.

"Honda-san isn't like that."

Yoshida rolled his eyes and jumped the stream to catch up with Tohru. "Heya! Ya forgot to shut the door!"

Tohru turned and shook her head, smiling. She snapped her fingers and a large crash came from the clearing. "_For whatever are you talking about milord_?" she asked sweetly with a small curtsey.

"_I'm going to throttle you one of these days for that…_" Yoshida sighed, laying his hand on Tohru's head heavily, open-palmed. "Why won't you just let my sanity be for once?" he ended in a whine similar to Shigure's.

"Because that's the second scariest thing on earth."

"Hey, I've been promoted!" Yoshida hung heavily on Tohru for a few seconds before slowing down as realization dawned on him. "That's not good, what happened?" his voice turned hushed as he peeked around at the others.

Tohru smiled sweetly and crossed her hand over to her left neck junction. "_I found out that the boogeyman wants friends just as much as the rest of us_."

"Has _it_ come back?"

"_Premonitions don't come back once you understand them_." Tohru looked off through the trees, "so, are you going to need a ride?"

Yoshida blushed slightly, "yeah, unless you can somehow convince Yohiko to come back." Tohru shrugged and put down the kickstand. She turned toward him, drew back her leg… "No!" Yoshida squeaked, covering himself, "do you _want_ to scar _both_ of us?" sighing, Tohru pushed on with her bike, leaving the quaking boy behind.

"Do you have a phone?" sighing in relief, he pulled the flip phone out of his jean picket and handed it to her.

"Just push the contacts button…"

"Yeah, yeah. I've stolen your phone before. Take my bike and park it by the driveway." Tohru turned and walked off the trail. "And stop gloating! I need to get something that I forgot…"

(o)

"No! I don't want to talk about it!" Tohru rubbed a portion of her bike furiously, attempting to buff away a spec of dirt that only she could detect.

"About what? About the fact that you had a premonition about this family. That you might be engaged to one. That you are more like them than you care to admit. That you haven't told them one iota about your past." Yoshida's voice was lowering with each accusation. "Or is it the fact that you're dying and don't want to be alone at the end?"

SLAP

Tohru sat back and took a few deep breaths before trusting herself to speak. "We're all dying. It all comes down to how fast in the end. One is born dead, and the next could live to be well over a hundred and three! Thirty, fifty, twenty-five, it doesn't matter at what age in the end, does it?"

Yoshida nodded and took his time before speaking again. "So… what's my ride?"

"You're lucky. Apparently, I have a package he wants to give me and he's grudgingly agreed to give you a ride…for 500 yen."

Yoshida swore softly and dug out his wallet. "Hey T-Chan, can you spot me some…"

"Toh-ru Ku-un! Phone!" Shigure called out his office door.

"Be right back!" And with that, she wiped the beginning of tears off her face and ran to the door.

"My, my, aren't you the popular one lately? If that one isn't your boyfriend, this one definitely is!"

Tohru snagged the phone and stuck her tongue out playfully. "Moshi, moshi, Tohru Honda speaking."

"It's been a long time, hasn't it Toh-chan? I was thinking, since tomorrow in the monthly meeting for the family, you could come and talk a bit." Tohru stiffened, hearing the command in the gentle request. "And wear that cute blue number. If not, we have something you can wear here that's appropriate. How's that sound? Okay? Bye."

Tohru had no time to respond as the line went dead. Shigure heard the dial tone and gently took the phone out of Tohru's grip. Her hands dropped to her side and she stared at the wall for a moment before snapping back to her happy mask.

"I'm going to visit some of my family after school tomorrow, is that okay?"

Shigure nodded, despite the worry that shone in his eyes. "Have fun and be safe. The boys'll want to make sure you get there safely, so let them walk you, okay?" Tohru nodded. "Hey," Shigure gave a smile and a half-hug so that the curse wasn't activated, "you're always welcome here, and this is your home."

It was just something that she needed to hear, to know that she was loved. They heard the gravel crunch in the driveway and Tohru turned out of Shigure's embrace. "And that would be the other half of the terrible twosome waiting for me." Tohru blushed sheepishly and bowed her way out. Outside, the twins were speaking in hushed tones, one holding a relatively large boy under one arm.

"T-cha-an! Pweese can I have some money?" Yoshida asked, acting as cute as he could. The effect was ruined by the face that he was at least a foot taller than Tohru. Tohru rolled her eyes and went to hug the other twin.

"How have you been? And what about a package for me?" she asked, spying the box that he held.

"It's just stuff, this and that and some videos—"

"_no-o-o_" Tohru groaned, covering her grin with her mouth. Taking the box, she half-skipped back to the house to set it in the living room.

"Money!" Yoshida called after her in a pleading voice.

Tohru peeked out the door and waved, "put it on his tab, he'll pay it back eventually!" Yoshida groaned and Yohiko laughed in what some would say an evil way, rubbing his hands together. Tohru shook her head, "no, he will not pay it back in blood!"

Both twins groaned, "But Toh-chan!" they whined in unison. Tohru smiled and waved at them as they both got into the jeep and drove off.

(o)

Took me long enough, ne? Next time (hopefully sooner than a year…) you'll find out what's in the box. Dark


	6. Leo

The Nemean lion descended to earth from the moon, riding on a meteor. The great beast, from the very start, started tearing up the countryside of Corinth. Hercules, in first of twelve tasks, was sent to slay the beast. Neither arrows, nor spears, could pierce the creature's tough hide. Finding the lion's den, Hercules discovered that it had two entrances. Blocking one, Hercules chased the lion to the other entrance and caught it, and, using his god-like strength, strangled the great beast by forcing his fist down its throat. Hercules brought it back to the king as proof of his deed and skinned it, using his hide as a shield from then out. Hera was furious at this and raised the soul of the lion, returning it to the skies as the constellation Leo.

(o)

Tohru peeked out the door and waved, "put it on his tab, he'll pay it back eventually!" Yoshida groaned and Yohiko laughed in what some would say an evil way, rubbing his hands together. Tohru shook her head, "no, he will not pay it back in blood!"

Both twins groaned, "But Toh-chan!" they whined in unison. Tohru smiled and waved at them as they both got into the jeep and drove off.

"Tohru-kun, what's in the box?" Shigure asked, tip-toeing over to peek over Tohru's shoulder. Tohru shrugged and went into the living room, intent on getting dinner started. "Are you just planning on leaving it here, torturing us eternally until you decide to open it? Why, Tohru, why such cruelty?" Shigure whined, following Tohru closely. Sighing, Tohru placed the box on the table and went into the kitchen to get out a bowl of soup from the refrigerator that just needed to be re-heated.

Placing the pot on the stove to heat up, Tohru looked at Shigure's pleading look, to the box lying innocently on the table, back to Shigure. "If you want to, go ahead. But don't say I didn't warn you if some spring-loaded bugs fly out at you!" looking at the box in a theatrically fearful way, Shigure grabbed a pair of scissors and opened the tape that practically coated the outside of the cardboard box. Half of the lid opened and Shigure jumped back in mock fear. After poking the box several times to make sure that it was 'dead,' he opened the other side and peered in the box. Theatrically sighing, he opened the box completely and took out the contents. "CDs..."

"What!" Tohru scrambled over and took the box from under Shigure's nose. Picking up several DVDs, Tohru mumbled the label on each one before putting it back. Groaning, she looked at the TV that was currently not in use and sighed. "Would it be okay if I used the television after dinner tonight?"

Shigure shrugged. "You've lived with us this long; I don't think you have to ask permission to use anything anymore, okay?" Tohru nodded and lined the DVDs up in front of the TV to get to the bottom of the box. A smaller box that looked like it was a necklace carrier and a letter were the last things that she took out. Discarding the smaller box, Tohru opted for opening the letter instead:

_Hey To-To, sorry for not being able to see you since… yeah, but I was nice and compiled your video clips together. They should be in chronological order, but there might be some that aren't quite right. I was gonna give this to you later, but the smaller box needed to be delivered before you come back… I think you know why. Maybe we can get together some time and talk? Yoshida._

"Bury it." Tohru growled out, picking up the box and dropping it in front of Shigure. "Bury it, burn it, lose it on purpose, I don't care what you do, just get rid of it!" rubbing her hands self-consciously, Tohru looked out of the open door into the yard. "If you can, I never want to see that box again, it brings… mixed memories for me. Excuse me." Hugging herself, Tohru made the escape away from the confused inu and the proverbial box of memories that he sat by. Bad memories; everyone had them, but it was the person that learned from them or regretted them. Some took the easy way out by forgetting them or drowning them in drugs and alcohol, but Tohru wasn't one to forget easily.

Sighing, Tohru turned to go up the stairs to her room, but thought twice and headed out the front door instead, intent on getting the motorcycle up and running as soon as possible. There was something about working with her hands that made it easier to concentrate on less tragic things, such as what the boys would like for dinner and how much time would it take her to get her homework done that night.

Inside, curiosity got to the dog (not the cat for once) and he opened the necklace box, wondering what had the little onigiri so scared. Peering inside, there was nothing more remarkable than four strands of dancer's bells inside, each a different size to produce a different not. Picking one up, Shigure felt the weight of the cold metal and heard the delicate chime as two of the hollow bells hit against one another. "Now why would Tohru-kun want to get rid of something so delicately put together?" Shigure murmured to himself, replacing the chain into the box and closing the lid. He stuffed the box into his sleeve, intent on just storing it in his room (which Tohru swore off as a 'hopeless cause') until Tohru wanted it back.

"What do you have Shigure? You look like the cat that ate the canary." Yuki barbed, knowing that Kyo was following him down the stairs.

"Hey! That's a stereotype, I don't like birds!" Kyo fumed, swing at and missing the back of Yuki's head.

"That's because you act bird-brained enough, baka-neko!" Yuki retorted, moving his head out of the way of Kyo's wild punches. Sighing, Yuki turned around and pegged Kyo in the chin with the side of his foot, sending the cat all the way back upstairs to the landing.

Looking around sheepishly, Shigure avoided the gaze of his younger cousin, "what? I don't have anything? Why would you suspect your dear cousin of such a thing?" Yuki sighed and shook his head, brushing past his cousin to the living room. Only to see an opened box and a letter sitting, opened, beside it. Curiosity getting the best of him, he read the letter.

"Who's To-to?" he mumbled to himself, seeing the aforementioned DVDs lined up in front of the player. Shrugging, he grabbed the one on the end that was labeled #1 spring of the rabbit. Putting it into the player and turning on the television, Yuki sat on the couch and used the remote to turn the menu. Pressing 'play all' Yuki saw what started out to be a bit of a running slide-show of pictures of a girl about five years old, playing with a blonde boy that could have easily been Momiji, and a stick of a boy with dark blue hair in the background. All three were wrestling in the mud without shirts on (c'mon, Tohru was 5!), the little girl had the blonde boy pinned and was grounding dirt into his hair, turning it a nasty shade of brown, and the blue-haired boy was in the background, desperately trying to wipe the mud from his glasses. The two boys looked older by a few years and both were laughing.

A few pictures later, Kyoko (he could tell by the hair color, although it was streaked with mud also) came in, waving a water hose and threatening to spray the children. She saw the camera and waved, her threat dispelled by her gay smile. The next picture, the stream of water was plastering the small child, washing the mud out of her chin-length hair. Laughing, she hid behind the blonde-haired boy as he was then pelted with the water. Last was the boy with blue hair, running toward the camera with the stream of water coming after him. The last picture was the water stream itself, as the camera had been drowned after that.

Yuki laughed lightly, whoever were in the picture, Tohru possibly, looked like they were having fun. It looked like it was something that he would have liked to do as a child, but couldn't. The boys and little girl in the pictures looked like they were best friends, like they would share everything with each other. Yuki sighed and hit the next button, bringing up a title page with a date on it.

The title page faded into a shaky and grainy film clip of the little girl sitting at a desk, working intently at something. "To-to-chan, what are you doing?" a voice came from the camera as it speed-zoomed into the back of her head, creating a vague sense of motion sickness on the poor Nezumi.

"Nothing. And I don't wanna talk about it!" the small girl turned away from the camera, hiding any and all of the things that she was working on.

"You're working on that stupid project again, aren't you? Just because Kyoko told you about it, doesn't mean it's true, baka."

"I'm not a baka! And I like cats!" the little girl turned suddenly and stared into the camera lens, or more like the zoom was stuck on the bridge of her nose. The camera zoomed completely out to show the determined look in the girl's large blue-green eyes. "Turn it off! I don't like you taking pictures of me!" the girl turned around and ran away, out of the room.

"Aw! C'mon! I got it for Christmas, you should have fun with me!" the voice behind the camera whined, the lens following the retreating girl. Turning the camera, it showed what was splayed across the desk. There were multiple pictures of cats on plain pieces of paper (drawn fairly well for a five-year-old) that had the subtitle 'year of the cat' in careful, but misspelled, English letters. Some of these pictures were cut out and had safety pins attached to them. "Stupid. She took it too seriously again. Idiot." Mumbled the voice behind the camera as the picture faded out.

"What's that?" Kyo asked, rubbing the bruise that was forming on the back of his head.

Yuki shrugged, "how would I know. It came in that box with a letter to 'To-to', whoever that is." Yuki trailed off as the next clip started.

"You pushed me!" the same little girl, but in a different outfit, yelled at the now fully-clothed blonde boy. She sat up, crossed her arms, and pouted, mumbling about meanies. The camera zoomed to the little girl's knee, which was bleeding freely except for a few rocks that were embedded into the skin.

"Toh—" the stick boy with blue hair moaned, seeing the blood. The camera quickly turned to the boy, capturing the now-green pallor of his skin, clashing with his dark blue skin. Holding onto his stomach, he stumbled away, attempting to tell the others that he'd get someone whose name started with an "A" or something. The camera followed the boy until he had rounded a corner and ralphed (upchucked, tossed his lunch/cookies, vomited, danced with the porcelain God…).

"Jyou's never been good with blood." Tohru commented as she sat down behind the two boys. The two jumped, not hearing Tohru enter in the first place. "The ironic thing is, his dad's making him train to be a doctor." Tohru shrugged and handed each boy a cup of tea.

The camera panned back to the little girl, specifically, her knee. "Uh… Toh-chan…" the blonde boy hesitated, not wanting to get closer to the girl.

"I don't wanna talk to you!" the girl 'humph'ed and turned further away, smearing the small amount of blood that had started running down her leg.

"Fine! Then I won't tell you that you're bleeding!" the blonde boy turned around also, crossing his arms in a similar manner.

"What?" the little girl gasped, looking to her knee before letting loose a blood-curdling scream. After running out of breath, the little girl just whimpered, trying to touch her knee, but not daring to touch the blood, resulting in both of her hands hovering. She stood up to run to get help, but the camera was dropped and a sideways view of two blonde boys practically tackling and pinning the girl to the ground until a woman's long sky-blue skirt came into the frame and blocked everything else.

"And what happened here?" a sweet voice asked, kneeling down to see the girl's wound. One of the boys stood up from where he was pinning the girl down, looked at a fresh cut on his palm, and picked up the camera, moving it so it could see everything better.

"Y-Yoshida pushed me—"

"Did not!"

"And I fell down." The little girl pointed at the blonde that was now standing a little back. The blue woman shook her head and opened an equally sky-blue messenger bag with a red cross on it. The camera took in the woman's picture as she was dressing the girl's wound: the woman was thin and tall, with light-blue hair that reached midway down her back, her peasant top was the same light blue with dark blue trim, and her plain skirt was slightly darker than the light-blue top. The woman nodded, clearly not really listening, and used a pair of tweezers to pull out pebbles from the little girl's wound. The girl didn't even flinch, but laid back gently to give the woman more room to work.

"You're too cut up for stitches, so I'll just be able to give you a big bandage. What color do you want? I have white, black, green, pink—"

"I want pink!" the girl cheered enthusiastically as the woman pulled out a hot-pink roll of bandaging tape and covered the layers of gauze that hid the series of deep cuts in her knee. Looking at the pretty tape, the little girl poked the top of her knee curiously.

"You'll feel it later after the shock and numbing medicine wears off, so don't worry Tohru-chan." The woman patted the little girl's head and went off to the other buildings. The camera faded and Tohru grabbed the remote, turning the TV off.

"Dinnertime. You can watch more of my embarrassing stories later." Tohru stood up and went into the kitchen to get the pot of soup. "Oh, and I have never been able to feel physical pain. That was just the first time that I noticed that I should have." Tohru gave a small embarrassed smile, "I was also a bit dramatic at that age also."

"Why, Tohru-chan, you can never be too dramatic!" Shigure exclaimed, prancing into the dining room from wherever he had been previously.

"Like you?" Kyo and Yuki deadpanned, giving identical looks to the inu, who just slunk into his seat. Tohru laughed gently, ladling soup into each of their bowls. Sometimes it was good just to sit back and watch life as it unfolded.

(o)

"Hey, where are you going?" Kyo asked, pointing down the opposite road, "home's this way." Tohru blushed, but didn't change directions.

"I guess you could say that I was invited to visit my family today…" Tohru responded, shaking her head after a moment, "but I guess it would be better if I changed out of my school uniform first though." Tohru jogged to catch up with Kyo and Yuki, who didn't have student council duties for once.

"Your family? Is your grandfather sick?" Yuki asked, concern floating from his mouth.

"No, Grandpa's fine, but some of my family wants to talk to me today…At least I hope he's still okay. Grandpa's strong, but he is getting old."

"What does your family want to talk to you about? They've been out of your life for what, two years now, and all of a sudden, poof, they're trying to take your every waking moment. What's their deal?

Tohru looked a bit uncomfortable, but sighed gently, "I guess you could call it a 'mourning period' or something. Katsuya, dad, was my only real connection to his side of the family," Tohru had grabbed a piece of her hair and was playing with it slightly. "Mom was kind of 'adopted' into the Honda family, like me living with you guys, and when she died… well, I found out how many people really cared about her. I left and I guess they want to make sure that there's still some sort of family connection left, is all."

Tossing the strand of hair behind her shoulder, Tohru sighed. "You could easily say that the Honda and Sohma clans are run very similarly to each other: only useful when the opportunity strikes well. But instead of having one 'god' like you, we have an entire 'counsel.' Like all of the _members_ decide your fate instead of one person. Makes public speaking a very good talent to have." Tohru gave a half-hearted laugh at the attempt at a joke.

"So, you're basically going against your family's counsel?" Yuki surmised, hand to his chin. Tohru nodded and looked away.

"Just imagine a counsel full of Akito's instead of just one." Both boys shuddered. "Most everyone on the counsel would rather see me out on the streets because of what my parents did, not who I am." Tohru tried to explain, trying not to get emotional about the unfair subject.

"Why's that? It shouldn't matter what your parents did for what happens to you." Tohru scoffed uncharacteristically and kicked a pebble down the street, hitting a tree with a solid 'thunk.'

"Putting it simple, my dad was married in an arranged marriage and he fell in love with my mom. I'm the result of them being together out of wedlock. Yeah, they were married, but it didn't hold up in court in the end. 'Onigiri' was just what the other children called me so they wouldn't get in trouble for calling me—"

"Bastard child," Kyo mumbled, his head hung low.

Tohru nodded sadly. "I'm used to it now, and I don't hear it as much anymore, but some of the counsel believes that I should be exorcised because they can't get over it. Sylvia? She's the legal child between dad and his wife, my step-mom." Both boys winced, seeing the water floating in Tohru's eyes.

"You haven't seen it yet in the tapes, but yeah, that's how it usually went. Our entire fights are over Katsuya's original decree that both of us are to be equal in standing." It was silent for the rest of the trip home, each lost in their own thoughts.

(o)

"Are you sure you want to come in? It could be a bit of a wait…" Tohru was trying, but not succeeding, to convince her Sohma followers to go back home. All four stood outside of a richly Victorian-style house, three of which were staring at the unique external décor that reminded them of the American-styled haunted house. After heading home so Tohru could change out of her school uniform into her blue jean dress, Shigure decided to 'supervise' the younger charges of his household in their trek to the new house. Along the way, Tohru became lost in thought, playing with one of her cuffs, buttoning and unbuttoning the button that held the cuff together.

"Nervous?" Yuki asked, putting his hand over hers to stop her squirming. Shaking her head distractedly, Tohru continued to look around at the old English-style houses that made up the majority of the district. She refused to look at any of the boys, hoping that they would not see the hesitation in her eyes.

"…A bit…"

"Miss Honda, you're a half an hour late! The meeting's started already!" an older woman in an old-fashioned European style maid's outfit came blustering out, shooing Tohru onto the grounds, of which she had no real intention on entering, and into the relatively large house before any of the Sohma could object. She only had time to shoot the boys an apologetic glance before the door shut behind her.

"Well, it seems like she will be here a while, so we might as well see if we can get invited in ourselves!" Shigure piped up in a cheerful tone. The teenage boys glared at the man, but said nothing verbally in objection. Marching straight up to the front doors, Shigure pulled on the rope-bell. Hearing a faint tinkling of bells inside, Shigure straightened up and pulled his tie into proper place. Yes, Shigure would make a proper impression on Tohru's family, no matter how distant the family members may have seemed.

"Yes?" came a quiet voice from a crack that opened in the door. It wasn't enough to see in, but enough to let some light in from the outside. The voice was female, but quite the opposite of the woman that brushed Tohru inside just moments ago.

"We're escorting Tohru around today, so I was wondering if we could wait inside until she is done meeting with her family members?" Shigure wondered out loud, putting on the charm for the girl just beyond the door.

The girl blushed, "well… we're not really supposed to let people outside of the family in right now…"

"Well, Tohru's practically family to us! She would think it was such a shame that one of her sunlight-sensitive escorts fainted from the heat!" Yuki gave Shigure a glare; he would have sworn that he didn't know about that incident at the beach last summer.

Stepping up and discreetly pushing Shigure aside, Yuki bowed to the servant girl. "It would mean so much to Honda-san if we were able to wait for her." The girl's eyes widened at the handsome young man. Surely three people in the waiting room would not be noticed too much? And besides, maybe she might get lucky and get a phone number and possibly a date from the fair skinned boy right outside the door.

Opening the door wide enough for them to enter, the girl curtseyed to the three men. "I am sorry, but you would have to wait in the waiting hall."

"That would be fine, as long as we're inside." Shigure waved the girl off with a genuine grin. The girl showed them to a comfortably furnished, but emotionally cold, sitting room. Stiff antique chairs and an antique couch lined the room and surrounded a dead fireplace. The boys took seats separate from each other, and the girl curtsied out, blushing when Yuki returned it with a generous nod and smile.

It was several minutes of tense, silent air before Yuki looked up from a magazine that he had found. "Do you hear anything?" he asked, seeing Shigure's closed eyes and tilted head. After a moment, Shigure shook his head with a sigh.

"Nothing distinct. I can hear voices, but they're muffled. They're saying something-"

"They told me that you'd be here!" a voice piped up, relief prominent. The boys turned to a side doorway to see Tohru in a white garment that reminded them of a toga. She walked in, picking up the ends so she wouldn't trip over the long hem. Seeing their curious stares, Tohru looked down at her dress and blushed. "Weird huh? If I would have shown up sooner, it would have fit me better. Katsuya's side of the family has Greek origins, but the majority of the family is almost pure Japanese by now. We came here long before Perry-san and his crew." Tohru shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs, fiddling with a silver chain that she put behind her bangs like a flexible tiara. They were still staring. "Yes, it's a toga." She deadpanned, slipping from her chair to kneel in front of the dead fireplace to start a small fire in the back corner.

"Taurus, they're ready for you now." The younger servant came in and gestured out the door. Tohru flinched, but nodded in acknowledgement anyway and stood up.

"Wish me luck!" and with that, she glided out the door.

"Taurus? Why'd they call Tohru something like that?" Kyo asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't know, Cat, maybe it has something to do with her family." Yuki hissed, putting down his magazine.

"Now, now, boys, let's not fight while Tohru's with her family." Shigure said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. Kyo glared at the inu, huffed, and sat back against his stiff chair.

It was silent except for the occasional random thump that each of the boys jumped at, ready to barge in at any moment. The problem was, the sound was carried through the walls and thus, they had no idea where Tohru was in the first place. It was nearing sunset before Tohru came into the waiting room, limping almost imperceptibly.

"What happened?" Kyo asked, leading her to the chair that he was previously sitting in.

Tohru waved off his concern with a small smile. "I was standing the entire time, that's all. Leaving in the middle of the meeting would have been rude, so I decided to catch up on what the others were saying. Nothing really new—births, deaths—stuff like that." It was weird, but the boys could tell that they weren't hearing the entire truth. If there was nothing going on but current events, why was tohru limping? And there was a small scorch mark, Shigure noticed, on the bottom of her back hem. And was that a defensive bruise forming on her arm?

Not noticing, or not showing that she noticed, tohru smiled and stood up, "I'm going to go get my regular dress back on and I'll meet you at the front door, okay?" she left them no room for argument as she left out the side door that she had entered earlier. Possibly, that was the dressing area for this house's guests.

Going into the small off-room, Tohru sighed. The boys were catching on and she didn't want to worry them. This was her family, her problem, and she didn't want any of the Sohma to worry over her. After all, they had problems of their own to deal with and they didn't need her problems on top of that.

This dress, it felt like it weighed a ton, even though it was made out of very light cotton. The dress itself was not the weight, but what it represented. All of the morals and responsibilities and the feelings of belonging, yet looking in from the outside because of her separation from the others. Maybe it was her mother's personality talking again? She always said to live how you wanted, no matter what anyone else said. Tohru smiled at that, maybe she could still do that. Just, she had to take a temporary detour in the meanwhile!

(o)

Sorry if that doesn't make any sense, but I've been confusing people in all of my stories lately. Fruits basket doesn't belong to me, except for a copy of the Haru's and Rin's books. Dark


	7. Virgo

The next constellation marks the changing of the seasons. Persephone was a beautiful maiden and the earth goddess' beloved daughter. The god of the underworld, Hades, fell in love with the beautiful maiden and kidnapped her. Demeter was distraught and searched everywhere for her daughter, neglecting her duties to make sure the crops grew. Zeus saw this and sent his messenger to Hades, demanding that he give Demeter her daughter back. Persephone went with the messenger and was reunited with her mother, but told her that she had fallen in love with Hades while she was down there. Demeter mourned when she heard the news. Zeus saw that his fellow goddess was unhappy and proposed a compromise: Persephone would spend half of the year with her husband Hades, and the other half of the year with her mother. Every fall when Persephone went back with her husband, Demeter became depressed and the crops stopped growing. When her daughter was returned every spring, Demeter rejoiced, bringing all the crops back to life. The constellation Virgo can also be called the constellation Persephone, because she disappears for half of the year.

* * *

The rest of the week went relatively stress-free and Tohru started to relax into a slightly different schedule that consisted with talking with the twins a few minutes before and after school, avoiding her 'little' sister, and working on her bike to get it to work again. Apparently, the gasoline in the tank and along the lines had completely gummed up the engine. True to his word, Yuki had helped clean out the muffler by turning into his mouse form (courtesy of Tohru) and pulling out the nest one section at a time. Afterward, he had to take a long shower to get the grease out of his hair.

After dinner and homework, they all settled down for Tohru's home movies. Half… scratch that… most of the time Tohru wondered if it was possible to die from embarrassment. The videos included clips from the sisters having a major cat fight to Tohru practicing cartwheels in a large room that with a stage built into one wall.

On this particular film clip, the introduction was printed over a picture of red stage curtains that pulled away to show a darkened auditorium. Tohru was about twelve in this scene, dressed in a pastel pink princess costume opposite of one of the twins in a bright blue prince costume sword fighting the other twin, who was in a black costume that included a cape, mask and wide brimmed hat.

"Ooh, no!" Tohru squealed, diving for the remote to turn the television off. Kyo, used to this by now, grabbed the remote that was lying beside him and tossed it to Yuki, who was across the room. Tohru landed on Kyo and transformed him before scrabbling after the remote that Yuki held.

Shigure spoke up before all three Sohma ended up in their animal forms and Tohru turning off the entertainment. "Hey To-to, do you think you can get us some snacks if you don't want to… watch… this?" Shigure withered under Tohru's glare.

"If you ever call me that again, you fill die from food poisoning…slowly." She hissed out, emanating Hana, and walked into the kitchen to fulfill Shigure's request. Shigure whimpered, earning sympathetic glances from the boys, who were equally scared of Tohru's attitude.

Coming back into the television room, Tohru set down three glasses of tea and sat down on the couch with it. Kyo had transformed unnoticed (nearly forgetting to get dressed in the process), and was sitting on the opposite end of the couch, furthest away from Tohru. "Uh, Honda-san… why don't you like 'To-to'?" Yuki worked up enough courage to ask, wondering if he really wanted to know.

"Have you ever seen The Wizard of Oz?" Tohru asked dryly, sipping from her peppermint tea. Shigure nodded, wondering why she was wondering about the old American movie. "Dorothy's dog, what was its name?"

"Toto…oh!" Shigure cracked up laughing, ignoring Tohru's sour look.

"And now you see why I don't like that name!" Tohru huffed, looking away. "You should start the clip again if you want to watch it tonight, but it's a little longer than the others." Tohru warned sullenly, leaning her head against the arm of the couch and propping her feet up beside her on the cushions.

"What does a dog from a movie have to do with anything?" Yuki asked, confused. Tohru looked over at Shigure, silently giving him the go-ahead.

"Toto the dog was the main character's dog from the movie The Wizard of Oz and didn't have a really big part. He was basically Dorothy's lapdog that she carried around in a picnic basket and was the reason that they went to Oz in the first place."

"One year after watching the movie," Tohru picked up the story, "we, the twins, Jyou and I, decided to dress up like the characters. They were the tin man, the lion, and the scarecrow. I was Dorothy and I spent the longest time making a stuffed Toto since I couldn't find one in the stores." Tohru smiled gently, "I still have Toto somewhere. He was the first stuffed animal that I ever made. I carried that thing everywhere for the longest time."

"That why they still call you Toto?" Kyo asked.

Tohru shook her head, "no, my name in the family starts with T-o and my street name starts with T-o. Mom, Kyoko, thought it was cute, especially after seeing me in my Dorothy costume. She would do that to people she met: give them nicknames. The twins are Yo-yo, and Jyou is Jo-jo. Mom was Ko-ko." Tohru laughed slightly. "I wonder what names she would call you? Something with your other forms probably." Tohru mused, looking each one over. "Or not. Sohma-kun would still be the Prince. And Kyo-kun would probably be Orangey… or something else." Tohru half-laughed, seeing Kyo's face reddening and glaring at the same time.

Tohru had no clue how close she was to his nickname from Kyoko. It had been so long ago since he had met the charismatic woman. He had begged her to not tell her daughter about their meetings, but here was Kyoko's pride and joy anyway, sitting next to him on the couch. There was more than once when it had been a near-miss to meet Tohru before her mother died. He could tell that the two of them had a connection that very few had. The day of the crash… that was the worst day ever. Kyo was actually on his way to Kyoko's apartment to talk to her. He had finally worked up enough courage to meet her daughter and maybe even celebrate with her on her birthday. Kyo heard the crash, recognized the driver that was hit, and watched the other car pull away without a care. The car that was hit stopped as it crashed against a wall on the opposite side of the sidewalk, knocking a few pedestrians out of the way in the meanwhile.

"_Kyoko!" he called, running across the street, nearly getting hit by a passing vehicle. "Kyoko, you'd better be alive!" Kyo said as he reached her smashed car. The other car had hit right in her door, so it was jammed shut. Trying to open the door, Kyo quickly realized it was stuck and reached in the smashed window to stroke her cheek. _

"_Tohru?" she asked deliriously, turning her head to the person outside her window._

_Kyo shook his head and continued to try to wipe blood off her face gently. "No, it's Kyo. Where were you going?" _

_Kyoko smiled gently and closed her eyes. "Toto-chan's birthday is coming up and I was going to surprise her. I got her the prettiest new costume for her dance recital also. She's going to like it, don't you think?" Kyo nodded absently and tried to open the door again. _

"_You're stuck Kyoko-san." Kyo said, frustrated but trying to stay calm._

"_I am, aren't I?" she asked in a daze, her eyes starting to glaze over. "Can you promise me one thing, Kyo-kun?" Kyo nodded, but she didn't notice. "Make sure that Tohru-chan gets her present, okay?" Kyo nodded and Kyoko closed her eyes, her breathing becoming shallower until it was almost imperceptible. _

_Soon after that, everything became a blur with sirens and emergency personnel pushing him out of the way and questioning him and his involvement in the accident. That's what it was: an accident. There was no way he could prove that the other car went after Kyoko on purpose. _

"…Kyo? Are you okay?" Kyo nodded and stood up, stretching. Younger Tohru, the twins and a few other people on stage were taking a final bow.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm going to bed."

Tohru nodded in agreement. "It's getting pretty late; we should probably go to bed now. Shigure, if you want you can watch ahead."

Shigure shook his head and stood up also. "I think I will retire for the night also. That was a wonderful performance of Zorro on stage and maybe one of these days you and your cousins can perform a scene on stage, ne?"

Tohru shrugged. "Maybe. I'll see if they'd be interested to ignore swearing off tights for a short scene or two." Tohru and Shigure laughed before heading their separate directions. Tohru and the boys upstairs, while Shigure went to bed in the war zone… otherwise known as his bedroom.

* * *

Later that night, Kyo was half asleep gazing at the stars when he heard a twig snap. Sitting up, he looked around until he saw where the twig snapped. A black-clothed figure was standing still, looking around to see if anyone had heard the sound. After a few seconds, the figure walked off, careful of where they put their foot on the path. Curiosity got the best of him and he took the quick way off the roof by jumping. Landing on his hands and feet like the cat that he was, he took off after the mysterious figure, shaking the tingling sensation out of his hands and ankles in the meanwhile.

Once or twice, the mysterious figure looked over their shoulder to see if they were being followed, but Kyo hid by staying off the path the entire time. It was more cumbersome, but he could hide easier when he had to. The figure stood up straight and took a deep breath when the house was out of sight. Shaking its head slightly, the figure dashed into the forest at a dead sprint, Kyo following. When they got to the clearing, Kyo lunged for what he was sure was a guy and sent them rolling. When they came to a stop, Kyo 'poofed' and transformed into a cat, much to his shock. The mysterious figure sat up and shook their head, taking off the dark ski mask. What Kyo now knew was a girl had her hair up in a simple braided bun and he stared for a second before grabbing his clothes, intent to run into the bushes before he was caught.

"Why were you following me?" a soft voice floated from the girl's lips, "Kyo?" The girl took down her hair and it tumbled down to almost her waste. Kyo stopped and looked at the girl.

"Why are you out here so late Tohru?" Kyo asked back, dropping his clothes. She looked tired and the rising moon was making her look paler that usual.

"I came out to watch the moon." She even sounded tired as she sat up and leaned against the cliff face.

"Be careful, that cliff'll-"

"Does it hurt?" Tohru asked, cutting him off. Kyo did nothing but cock his head to the side as Tohru stared up at the moon's outline behind the cloud bank. "Transforming, I mean. Does it hurt to turn into the cat?"

Kyo shook his head, "N-no, not really. It hurts when I lose my beads and transform that way though." Tohru nodded as the moon came out behind the clouds. Gripping her stomach, Tohru curled in on herself and beads of sweat formed on her brow. "Tohru!" Kyo called, racing forward. He placed a paw on her knee and tried to see into her eyes. Seeing her grimace in pain, Kyo turned around, "don't worry Tohru, I'll get Shigure to call Hatori!" Tohru's eyes snapped open and she grabbed Kyo's tail, much to his protest.

"N-no, don't call Hatori-san…Please." Tohru grimaced again as another spasm hit her. Kyo transformed back into his human form as the moon went behind another cloud. Tohru sighed in relief and uncurled slightly, lying on her side against the cliff wall.

"You sure you don't want Hatori to come and take a look at you?" Kyo asked after getting dressed. After nearly two years of living with the boys, their state of dress didn't really affect her much anymore. He put his hand on her shoulder and felt how cold Tohru was.

She shook her head, "I'll be fine. This just happens sometimes Kyo, so don't worry about me." Tohru gave a smile, but it turned into another grimace as the moon came out again. She gouged the soft earth with her fingers and gave a low moan.

"No, not fine. Tohru I'm going to call Hatori now." Tohru grabbed his ankle as he stood up with amazing strength.

"Trust me, don't call Hatori." Tohru cringed, "I guess you could call this a secret of my past."

"Was this what you meant by getting hurt?" Tohru shook her head as she got a respite because of the clouds.

"No, that's something different. This happens every spring to me."

"Like allergies."

Tohru laughed through her wince, "you could say that. It's like how you're allergic to being hugged, if that's what you mean by that." A questioning look lit upon his face. "I don't exactly go 'poof' though, but your family and my family are very much the same."

"Then how come you don't transform every time one of us hug you then?" Kyo asked, trying to put pieces of the puzzle together. The moon came out, cutting off Tohru's ability to speak. There was not another cloud blocking the moon for the next half an hour. Feeling helpless, Kyo rubbed Tohru's back gently in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

The moon finally dipped behind a relatively large cloud bank and Tohru nearly passed out, breathing hard as if she had run a marathon. "Now, what was your question?" Tohru asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"If you're like us, why didn't you transform when you hugged us?" Kyo reiterated for Tohru as she sat up.

"Because I said 'like,' not 'exactly the same.' For us, it's only during our month of the year and we have two triggers: a touch from another of the same sex with our curse, or an extreme emotion of some sort. Mine is extreme anger, 'seeing red' basically. That's why Cyg-Sylvia is always trying to irk me. That's one reason she's lucky…" the moon peeked out briefly, "she doesn't have to go through this crap twice a year!" Tohru ground out. Kyo backed away a pace while Tohru settled down a bit. "Since she's in the lower ring, she can choose when to transform most times, and she's able to do it year-round. None of this rising and lowering like the tides that I'm stuck with."

"Lower ring? Tides?"

"Yeah. The star constellations… how to put it? It's like Sohma-kun being in the higher ring, and you being in the lower ring. You can transform, but you're not officially part of the circle…see?" Tohru saw his darkening face and decided to interject before he went off on a tangent. "It's not that great being part of the higher ring. I can only transform at one part of the year and it hurts like nothing else I can think of at the moment." Kyo went back to rubbing her back, but not as gently as before.

"You still belong to something. You're not an outcast at least." Kyo grouched, looking around.

Tohru shook her head. "Think of it this way, do you prefer control or being controlled? Control, right?" Kyo nodded stiffly, "that's one thing I don't have right now. Even within your family, you and Sohma-kun decided to stay with me during the New Year when you clearly didn't have to."

"What does New Year have to do with this?" Kyo asked gruffly.

"Nothing really, it's just an example. Speaking of, I'll probably be gone the next month or so because of this. It's 'required' of me to stay at my family's… ranch while I'm like this. Since I have practically no control, they feel like it's safer… and to punish me," Tohru whispered to herself.

"What about the promise to your mom?" Tohru shrugged.

"Better to control me with, my dear," Tohru imitated a witch cackle, "with me not graduating, I don't have the chance to do anything but come work at the ranch for the rest of my life. And besides, what future does someone who's set to be a bargain bride have?"

Kyo coughed, "'bargain bride'?"

"What are you, a parrot?" Tohru asked dryly. "According to my dad's will, either Sylvia or I are set to get married as this sort of contract between our family and another big family. I haven't even met the guy before, but he's supposed to be really sickly… at least, that's what I've been told." The moon came out again and Tohru fell over, biting off screams as fire seemed to ignite under her skin.

While Tohru fought for her sanity, it left Kyo to reflect on what Tohru had said. It was nearing the treetops before the clouds hid the moon's face from sight again. "You said transform… like…?" Kyo asked, partially afraid of the answer. Tohru was very pale from her last round and grinned in suppressed laughter.

"Moo…" Tohru imitated a cow perfectly.

Kyo groaned, "You mean…"

"Yep. Taurus the white bull incarnation of the king of the gods. Golden horns and all. Problem is… I'm russet instead of white… with this nice black blob across my back that the twins say look like a hawk."

"The twins…?"

"Gemini. They don't transform, but they're psychic… to a point. Lucky them." Tohru sat up and tried unsuccessfully to stand.

"What about last year, did you transform last year?" Tohru shook her head and tried to stand up again, this time with Kyo's help.

"No, but you remember me passing out on you, right? There's this one-time thing that I took that stopped it for activating for the month. Problem is, I got sicker than usual because of it."

"Why don't you use it again if it stops you from transforming?" Kyo asked, looping Tohru's arm around his neck to help her walk back home.

"You kidding? I said it was one-time and one time only. It could kill me if I tried that stunt again." Tohru stopped the two of them and grabbed her ski mask. "I didn't really want to try it in the first place, but I felt like I had to." Tohru caught Kyo's questioning glance. "Think of it this way: my powers activate and I start to light up like a beacon to psychically powerful people. Like Hana-chan says, my waves become erratic. The first year when mom… left… I didn't transform because of the shock, and last year I didn't want to because I was becoming too… comfortable with you and the other Sohma. I didn't want to 'spill' unless I could trust you… I guess that was unfair on my part, wasn't it?" Kyo nodded in grim agreement. They had invited her into their family, their circle and their circle, and she still didn't trust them with hers?

"I guess it's like a quote that I once heard from a movie: how can you know to trust me with your secrets if I can't even keep mine?" Kyo nodded again. That was an acceptable excuse, right?

"If you're a cow, does that mean that you have split personalities like Haru?" he asked, steering Tohru onto the path back home.

Tohru bobbed her head in circles, trying to make up her mind how to answer that question. "K…inda. The only real difference is how passive I am in situations. I don't exactly get mad or have wild emotions at times, but sometimes I can be a bit 'bull-headed'…like around Sylvia… Cygnus I should say around you now, huh? She can choose to be a swan at times." _That explained so many of the arguments between the girls_, Kyo thought, rolling his eyes.

"Can you walk now?" Kyo asked, seeing the house in view.

"Yes. I'm glad that the moon finally set though." Tohru commented, stuffing the ski mask in a pocket of her dark sweatpants.

"So it was the moon then?" Tohru nodded.

"That's the activator and the ender. From one full moon to another is my 'time.'" Tohru explained, staring up at the stars. "The weird thing is, there are thirteen moons in a year. I only count twelve that I'm aware of. I wonder if there is a thirteenth one that the counsel keeps hidden-"

"Like mine." Kyo concluded, opening the shoji for Tohru to enter.

"Well, well, where were the two lovebirds this entire time? Out for a romp in the woods? Tohru-kun looks a little peaked, but what about dear Kyo? He seems as healthy as always." Both teens turned red, Kyo out of anger and Tohru out of embarrassment. "Speaking of health," Shigure dodged a swipe from Kyo, "Haa-san called earlier for you Tohru and I forgot until now. Apparently you're on the Sohma Health Plan and he wants to see you for your yearly check-up tomorrow afternoon. Walk with Momichi and Haa-kun tomorrow after school, okay?" Tohru nodded and headed to bed, yawning. It was nearing midnight and she had a full day tomorrow, apparently.

The boys watched Tohru head upstairs and close her door before Shigure turned to Kyo with a knowing grin. "Shut up!" the cat yelled, swiping at Shigure again before following Tohru's suit.

* * *

Not bad if I do say so myself! Hopefully this answered some questions for you. But will Kyo tell the other Sohma about the Onigiri's little secret? Later! Dark (oh, and I don't own Fruits Basket. I forgot to tell ya that earlier!) 


	8. Libra

Chapter 8: Libra

I keep on forgetting to do this: I don't own fruits basket!

The scales Libra have come over time to mean multiple things. One is Pluto's golden chariot that was pulled by four jet-black horses when he visited the surface and the other gods. Also, Libra can also represent Zeus' decree for Persephone to split her time between her mother, Demeter, and her husband, Pluto, otherwise known as Hades.

* * *

"Good morning Kyo!" Tohru chirped, looking up from the rice maker to watch Kyo drowsily take a chug from his milk carton. Looking at her, Kyo took an attempt at a wave, that ended up more like a dismissal arm flop.

"You…how can you be this perky with not having that much sleep last night?" he droned, leaning against the closed refrigerator door.

Tohru shrugged. "Ah, that is a good question, my young cousin," Shigure interrupted, "how indeed… oh, and don't forget you have an appointment with Haa-san after school!" he sang, prancing over Tohru's shoulder to see if he could snag an early bite. Tohru tapped the back of his hand with the rice spoon.

"Wait for Sohma-kun, Shigure-san!" Tohru admonished gently, putting aside her finished 'Neko-giri.' Kyo shook his head, spying the cat-head shaped onigiri. "Aren't they cute, Kyo?" Tohru asked, holding one up.

"Sure, if you're into cannibalism…" Kyo trailed off, shrugging as he went to sit in the television room/ dining room. Tohru took a glance at the onigiri she had made already. Plain ones for Kyo then. She had never really thought of the cute cat-shaped onigiri as being cannibalistic before though. So what did that make gingerbread men? Or, in her and Haru's case, Hamburgers? She knew that she had seen the other cow scarf down one or two before. Shrugging, she filed that for a topic-filler for a slow day: the culinary habits of an animal/person. Personally, she had no real qualms about it before, but would being able to speak with the animal make a difference?

Walking into the dining room, Tohru noticed that Yuki was already there. Problem was, he was practically drooling in his sleep onto the table. Setting down the plate of onigiri in the center of the table, she gave each a plate to serve themselves the onigiri that they wanted. It wasn't much of an experiment, but Tohru was curious to whether the neko-giri would be eaten last or first. She remembered that at the school cultural festival their first year, the neko-giri had been her most popular. Surprisingly enough, only Kyo avoided the neko-giri. "Your answer from earlier, Kyo, is that I'm used to it. My 'allergy' happens this time every year regardless, so I got used to it." Kyo shook his head, understanding the reference from last night, and hovered his hand over the last onigiri: a cat-shaped one. Tohru tilted her head at the hesitation, "think of it this way: are eating gingerbread men cannibalistic?"

"Sometimes I wonder…" Kyo mumbled, grabbing the last onigiri seconds before Yuki reached for it.

* * *

"Honda-kun, where are you going?" Yuki asked, watching as Tohru followed Momiji and Haru the direction of the Sohma Honke. Tohru tilted her head curiously before replying to the Nezumi.

"To see Hatori-san." Yuki flinched imperceptibly. "Apparently you were still asleep when Shigure reminded me this morning. This is a good thing… I tend to get a little sick this time of year anyway. Must be the season?" Tohru shrugged and Kyo rolled his eyes at the white lie. Yuki moved to follow them to the Honke, but Tohru shook her head and smiled gently. "Don't worry Sohma-kun, I have a feeling that nothing out of the ordinary will happen. It's just a check-up." Yuki didn't seem too convinced as he continued to walk closer to be next to Tohru.

"With Hatori, it's never 'just a check-up.' I'm coming with you." He insisted, looking over at Kyo as if expecting the cat to agree.

"I have practice with Shishiou. Do you want me to start dinner if you don't make it on time?" Kyo asked, hefting his duffle bag over his shoulder to head straight for the dojo.

Tohru smiled at his offer. "Just get the fish defrosted, okay? I don't think it'll take that long." Humming his agreement, Kyo turned and waved himself off, crossing the street on the light change. "Shall we go?" she asked, gesturing the boys to lead on. Yuki took point with Haru and Momiji on either side in an almost subconscious protection formation. Laughing, Momiji took Tohru's hand and swung it wildly as he talked animatedly about his day and various other things. Yuki could have easily gone after Momiji if it wouldn't have potentially lost some of his approval in Tohru's eyes. In the end that was all that mattered anymore: Tohru' approval. Akito be damned, nearly all of the zodiac would stand up for the girl that had stolen their hearts if push came to shove.

"Yuki-kun, are you alright?" Tohru asked worriedly, her hand flittering over his shoulder, not quite touching. She had to be quite worried if she had reverted to his given name.

Yuki looked over his shoulder at the girl and gave a reassuring smile, "I'm quite fine, thank you for asking, Honda-kun." Tohru pursed her lips slightly before going back to her less-than-enlightened mask and nodding enthusiastically.

"If you're sure, I just don't want you to be sick while we are heading to a _doctor's_ appointment in the first place."

Yuki smiled one of his 'princely' grins and shook his head. Oh, how ironic that would be: Yuki having to take Tohru's appointment because she was a little worried. Reaching the front gates of the Honke, Yuki stepped back slightly and allowed the trio to enter first. This was the last place that he wanted to be, but for Tohru, he would bear anything.

Turning around to see Yuki increasingly lagging behind, Tohru tilted her head curiously. "Sohma-kun, if you want to, you can go back home now. I'll probably take a little longer than expected because I'm going to run some errands before I come back home and Haru-kun and Momiji-kun have already agreed to walk me home for the night, okay?"

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine." Yuki assured, walking faster to catch up with the other three as they reached Hatori's office. A moment after knocking, the Dragon opened the door and looked at the group.

"Honda-kun, I'm glad that you could make it." He opened the door to let the others in, "and you brought Yuki too. Yuki, why don't you wait in the living room so I can do your monthly check-up after I'm done with Tohru, alright?" Yuki nodded and made for the living room until Hatori led Tohru into one of the back rooms of his home that was used as his clinic.

Turning to the Ox and Rabbit, Yuki narrowed his eyes, "if anything happens to Honda-kun, it's your necks, got it?" with that he left, shuddering as he mumbled something about 'evil needles.' From the next room, Hatori watched his younger cousin leave, shaking his head before turning to Tohru and sliding the door closed.

"You tend to get sick this time of year, I've noticed." Hatori started, pulling one of his drawers open and grabbing a pale pink and yellow patient dress. "So, I hope to prevent it by giving you a through look-over to see if I can find the culprit. Change into this—yes you can keep your underclothes on—in the bathroom and come back in here." He handed her the gown and herded her to the attached bathroom. A few minutes later, Tohru came out hugging herself uncertainly. Patting the doctor's table, Hatori didn't even look up from his notes. "Don't worry, I'm not like Shigure. I'm not a pervert and I won't touch you more than necessary. Sit down and we'll start with the basics, okay?" Tohru nodded and hopped up on the table, trying to hide her back from Hatori's view. Taking out a tongue depressor from the wrapper, Hatori signaled Tohru to open her mouth. "Strawberry flavored, I thought you might appreciate that. Tohru smiled a little around the stick as Hatori looked at her tonsils and down her throat. He let her mouth close around the stick and let go. "You can keep the stick." He commented dryly as he scribbled a note on his clipboard. Tohru laughed slightly and took the stick out of her mouth after sucking the last of the flavoring out. It tasted like a Popsicle stick when there was no Popsicle left. "Who was your last doctor?" Hatori asked, shining his pen light into Tohru's eyes to check her reaction: it was slightly slower than normal and Hatori frowned at that.

"A…" Tohru closed her mouth and looked thoughtful. "…I don't remember her professional name…" putting her hand on her chin, she tapped a finger as she spaced out looking at a wall. "But I think I can get my records, if that is what you're asking." Hatori nodded as he held the metal part of his stethoscope in his palm to warm it up. Tohru looked at it warily as Hatori moved around the table to place it against her back.

"Hmm, what's this?" he muttered, brushing the bandaging that wrapped Tohru's lower torso to under where her bra edge was. Tohru hissed slightly, trying not to flinch as Hatori ran his finger over her injury. "Let me see Tohru." He ordered, dropping his honorific on purpose. Tohru dipped her head, but turned so that he could see her back better. Tohru took out the safety pin that held the end in place and started unwrapping to reveal the scar tissue and tattoo in the center.

"Before you ask, I've had this for a long time. It didn't really think that I would have stayed long enough to tell you about it before." Hatori nodded as he helped with the last of the bandage strip and the pad that was held in place over the actual open part of the wound.

"A wound like this shouldn't take—I'm assuming—years to heal. What happened here?" he asked, prodding the swollen scar tissue on either end of the open slash.

"I was kicked by a horse." Tohru didn't even try to lie. "It wasn't Rin-san, but another horse that kicked me. And the tattoo… please don't ask…Please?" Hatori nodded absently as he went to a cabinet and pulled out a blank white container.

"This might sting a little." He warned bare moments before applying a generous glob into the wound. Tohru barely contained the flinch and grunt that pushed at her throat. After applying a new pad over the medicated wound, Hatori started to wrap Tohru's torso to keep it in place. "We'll see how this works and I'll see you in a week for another application. I assume that I don't have to tell you to take it careful, correct? I heard that you fell over a log the other day and that possibly reopened the wound. Leave it unwrapped for a little before you go to bed to let it breath a little and it might start healing up, alright?" Tohru nodded and Hatori helped her off the table and back into the bathroom for her clothes.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Hatori stopped her momentarily, "Honda-kun, sit down for a moment. I forgot to do something." Turning from the counter, Hatori held an empty catheter needle with a blood collection vial attached and a wide strip of thick latex. "I just need a quick blood sample and an immunization shot and then you can go, okay?" Tohru nodded and sat in the lightly cushioned armchair, leaning back and relaxing as much as she could, closing her eyes softly. She placed both of her arms on the arms of the chair, palm up, and waited.

She felt the snap of the latex as it was tied around her upper arm and she created a loose fist and took a deep breath. "One done," Hatori commented, sliding the needle out of her inner elbow and taping a cotton ball in place. Releasing the latex band, Hatori moved to her arm as Tohru closed her eyes again and looked away slightly as she breathed deeply. "And… two. Usually I get at least a flinch when I have to stick needles in one of the boys." Hatori mused, throwing away the immunization needle in the biohazard bucket.

Tohru stood up and rubbed her upper arm to get the hot tingling to go away. "May I go now?"

Hatori nodded and handed Tohru a small vial of pills. "Take two as needed. And I'll see you next week after Yuki's appointment, okay" Tohru nodded and turned to leave, pocketing the small pink pain pills. Looking around, Tohru wasn't surprised that Yuki had left already. Hatori followed them into the living room in pretence to get Yuki, but rolled his eyes and grabbed a book of the shelf instead. Waving the teens out, he sat down on the couch to enjoy a brief moment of quiet.

Outside the honke, Tohru turned a different direction than the straight route to Shigure's house. "Tohru-kun, are you lost?" Momiji grinned, standing next to Haru.

Tohru shook her head and continued to walk the direction away from Shigure's house. "I have something that I need to get before we go home. It's this way." Tohru waved her hand for them to follow, her mouth smiling in a carefree way that didn't reach her eyes completely. She led them to one of the lower class nice apartment complexes and up a flight of stairs.

"Where are we?" Haru asked, looking around to see if he could spot any familiar land marks. He was surprised how close this was to the Sohma houses, yet he had never really noticed the houses here before. Tohru looked up from digging in her school case and looked around.

"Huh? This is the right place." She mumbled mostly to herself, turning to the flower box distractedly and pushing aside some of the dirt to look for something. "It's not here." Tohru let a small moan escape her lips as she looked at the overhand above the front door.

"What are you looking for Tohru-kun?" Momiji asked, looking at the street below.

"My key to get in. I don't want to ask Uo-chan for hers and I think I lost mine." Tohru explained, pulling a chair to the wrought-iron railing between the walkway and the long fall to the street below. Standing on the chair, Tohru reached for the overhang was missed by a few inches. Sighing, Tohru bent her knees for a jump, mumbling along the lines of "mom, why did you have to be so tall" as she jumped and grabbed onto the overhang, much to the boys' shock. Lifting a shingle slightly with one hand, Tohru manipulated a piece of metal out from under it before losing her grip and falling back into the chair.

Haru looked at the key skeptically. "So… what's that for?"

"To open the door," Tohru commented, avoiding the real question again.

"The door where?" Haru was trying to keep his patience.

"Here."

"Where's 'here'?" Tohru ignored them as she undid the lock and opened the door.

"If you want to come in, you can but I suggest not taking your shoes off. There's glass everywhere." Leaving the door open for the boys, Tohru carefully picked her way through the debris and general mess of the house. Looking in, the boys saw that practically everything had a thick layer of dust covering it. The apartment looked like it was once kept immaculately clean, but a fight or something left glass shards scattered on the floor and pictures fallen from the walls and tables. Kneeling softly at the only place that seemed somewhat cleaned off, Tohru put her hands together and bowed her head briefly at a small shrine in one corner. Lighting a stick on incense, Tohru bowed at the small shrine once again and turned into a very short hallway with a door on either side and at the end. Opening the door on the left, Tohru went in and closed it most of the way behind her. The resounding crash and tinkle of glass sent the boys running inside and to the room that Tohru went into.

"What happened?" Momiji asked, being the faster of the two. Tohru turned her head slightly and leaned against the wall, rubbing her hand as if it was sore.

"Nothing. I accidentally hit a picture and it fell off the wall when I passed it." The picture mentioned was actually across the mostly bare room, but the empty hook belonging to the picture was over Tohru's head, still firmly placed in the wall. Inviting themselves in, Momiji and Haru looked around the room. A futon was folded in one corner with a dresser next to it. There was also a small closet and a window outside to the back of the apartment complex. "Welcome to my room." Tohru gestured with her arms as she walked over to the closet and threw a pink duffle bag onto her folded futon.

"This is where you and your Mutti lived?" Momiji gaped, looking out the window. Tohru nodded and continued to dig in her closet, trying to find something in the back.

"Yes, I lived here my whole life until…" Tohru trailed off sadly, "found it!" she chirped, pulling a wooden sword out of the back of her closet and tossed it on her futon also.

"Kendo?" Haru asked, picking up the sword and swinging it around to test the weight.

"No, it was mom's when she was in the gang!" Tohru smiled as she took it from Haru and performed a hard downward stroke. "And it hurts when you get hit with it too!" dropping the sword back onto her futon, she headed to the dresser and started to pull out some clothes and looked at them critically before tossing them on the futon also. "Aha!" Tohru cheered, pulling a dress box out of the bottom drawer. Haru looked down from where he was looking at various trinkets on the top of her dresser and Momiji looked in from the window.

"What do you have?" Haru asked, kneeling down to Tohru's eye level. Smiling secretly, Tohru shrugged and turned away with her box.

"Something." She commented smiling, taking the lid off the box and pushing aside the tissue paper. "Something that I was thinking of starting to do again." She pulled out a black leotard with a semi-long skirt attached and turned it for the boys to see. Spotting something on the back, she brought it down to her lap with a pout. "Oh, pooh," she sighed, putting her finger through a hole that was eaten in the back of the fabric. Looking down into the box, Tohru saw a hole that was gnawed into the corner. "I guess a little mouse liked my dress too. I guess that's one more errand for me to do… if I can." Tohru mumbled, folding the leotard up and placing it gently back into the box.

"You dance?" Momiji asked, hopping with joy.

"I used to. I don't anymore because… never mind," she put the box back into the dresser and closed the drawer gently. She didn't dance for several reasons, but mostly because her back wouldn't let her most of the time. She hadn't even attempted to dance until yesterday since her mother died.

"Oh…" Momiji's face fell briefly before giving one of his care-free smiles, "do you think you can show us something now?" he suggested, sitting on the futon and clapping his hands.

Tohru smiled and tapped the tip of her shoes against the floor to make sure that they would stay on. "I-I'll try, but I'm not really that good… and I haven't been able to practice in a long time… and…"

"If you don't want to, you don't have to," Haru commented, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. Looking down, he saw the picture that 'fell' and its broken glass.

Tohru gave a hesitant smile and nodded, dropping her head and closing her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she raised her hands into position and opened her eyes halfway, not even aware of the room that she was in anymore. Hearing the tinkling chimes of one of her favorite songs, she spun gently as she mouthed the words, telling the story in her mind and gestures of an orphan girl remembering the parties that she used to go to with her family, dancing with her grandma and having a wonderful time.

Ending the dance with a low curtsey, one leg extended in front for balance, Tohru opened her eyes completely and blushed a deep crimson. Both boys clapped, Momiji more enthusiastically, and smiled. "That was great! And really pretty!"

"This you?" Haru extended the picture that he extracted from the broken frame to Tohru. She took the picture and her hand started to shake as she looked at it. It was Kyoko hugging Tohru from behind, both had winning smiles on as the younger Tohru was holding a bouquet of flowers as she tried not to fall from her mother's weight. She was in a leotard much like the one that she had put back into the dresser, only it was blue with sea-green swirls in the fabric. The skirt was in petal-shaped overlapping sections that were in the same sea-green as the top's swirls. She had blue fishnet on her legs and arms and her hair was held up in a bun by a blue and green net-like accessory. She even had green ribbons tied around her lower legs, arms and around her neck in a large bow.

Handing the picture back to Haru, Tohru nodded. "That was right before I… quit. Mom was so proud that she took me out to dinner so I didn't have to cook that night. She said that I deserved a treat after winning, even if I didn't place in first… ballet's not my forte anyway." Tohru started packing her duffle bag full of the clothes and other things. Frowning, Tohru realized that the wooden sword wouldn't fit in the bag because it was too long. It would be suspicious if she carried it like a traditional katana, so she dug out a cloth case that would make it look like she was carrying a bamboo kendo sword instead. Shaking a small box out of the bottom of the bag first, Tohru slipped the sword into the case and tied it shut.

"Vas is das (what's this)?" Momiji grabbed the black liquored box and flipped open the latch before Tohru grabbed it. Pulling out two crescent scythes, Tohru held them by the handles and spun them around midair as if she was used to using them. The sharp tip of the scythe curved around into three-fourths of a circle, pointing toward the handle. The sharp edge was on the inside, so Tohru didn't have to worry about cutting someone (or herself) by accident.

"Mom gave them to me when I turned ten… I guess I forgot about them… She said that she wouldn't always be around to save me… I guess she was right." Tohru twirled them around almost carelessly, tossing them up and catching them in a sort of pinch hold on the blade, hooking them together to extend the weapon's reach and other things before placing them back into the box and stuffing it into the duffle bag. "Do you have any questions?" Tohru asked, shouldering the duffle and sword bags.

"You don't like fighting, so why do you have weapons?" Haru asked, pushing himself off of the wall to follow Tohru out. Searching the ceiling for answers, Tohru shrugged.

"The Red Butterfly's legend is still alive today, as long as Hana-chan, Uo-chan and I are there to remind people. There are some people out there that think that if they cut down one of us, they'll get more street credit." Readjusting the shoulder strap on her duffle bag, Tohru turned to close her bedroom door. "Hana has her denpa waves, and Uo has her street credit but I don't really have anything, so it makes me a very good target." Tohru smiled and turned to the living room to bow at the shrine once again before gesturing for the others to leave. "I don't worry about it though, because I rarely have to worry about being by myself anyway. You guys or Uo-chan or Hana-chan or the other Sohma are always with me."

"Was that your old man?" Haru asked, gesturing to the shrine as Tohru closed and locked the door. Tohru nodded, climbing back up on the deck chair so that she could put the key back in its place. Haru plucked it out of her fingers and placed it under the loose shingle for her.

"Yes, that was Katsuya, my dad. It's more of a habit than me actually missing him though… I can't really remember him except for the fact that he and mom were always happy together."

"If you can come in here whenever you want, why don't you live here? It's a nice apartment." Momiji asked, gesturing around.

Tohru shrugged and hitched the duffle bag higher. "I can't. The electricity, heat and water's turned off, but I can barely afford to keep it as it is. The landlady's really nice though and isn't charging me the full rent price until I can afford it. Most of my paycheck goes into this rent, so that makes it a little hard sometimes…" Tohru turned thoughtful and some small worry lines showed on her face briefly.

"Tohru-chan is that you?" a voice called from behind them. An older woman in a house dress and apron came out and gave the girl a hug. "It is you! How have you been doing dear?"

"Takuya-san, I'm sorry for not visiting earlier." Tohru apologized, bowing.

"Oh, posh." The woman waved off Tohru's apology. "I'm just glad that you didn't whither away on the streets, poor thing. And who are these handsome gentlemen, eh?" she nudged Tohru suggestively and raised her eyebrow.

Blushing, Tohru stammered out introductions between the Sohma boys and Takuya the owner of the building. "Now, if I'm not mistaken," Takuya-san put her finger to her chin in a thoughtful gesture, "you turn 18 next month, do you not?"

Tohru blushed and nodded, "yes Takuya-san. I'll have my answer by then. Most likely I'll clean up the apartment and move the rest of my stuff out. A storage garage is probably where everything is going to go anyway… or I'm going to have to sell it." Takuya frowned but nodded anyway, giving Tohru another hug.

"I'm glad to see that you're doing well. If you want to talk, please don't hesitate to call." Tohru nodded and watched as the older woman walked back into her apartment.

Momiji could barely contain his joy, "when's your birthday, huh, huh, huh?" Tohru dipped her head, hiding her eyes momentarily before smiling at the rabbit.

"That's for me to know and you to find out. If you do find out, you can throw a party for me and I won't complain, how's that?" Momiji nodded enthusiastically and started throwing out numbers. Tohru laughed, but didn't respond to any of the numbers that he guessed.

"What's next?" Haru asked, cutting off Momiji's hyper-ness.

Tohru looked at her watch and shrugged. "It's getting late. The school and Papa-Bear's house are the same distance, but different ways." Tohru mumbled to herself, tilting her head. "Papa-Bear can wait, but I have to pick up something from the school for tomorrow first anyway."

"Did Tohru forget her homework?" Momiji teased, his hands behind his back.

Shaking her head, Tohru gestured to the left as they followed. "No, the School of the Arts is the school that I'm talking about. I need to pick up my… never mind. I just need to talk to someone there about getting me enrolled in classes again."

"I go there for my violin lessons!" Momiji exclaimed, curiosity lighting his features, "what lessons are you planning on taking?"

"Sylvia's mom is the ballet instructor and I was asked if I could be a stand-in for one of the parts in the play because the girl playing the part is sick and it's possible that she's not going to make it to the performances."

"What part are you going to play?"

"The black swan in Swan Lake. She's the witch's daughter and tricks the prince to fall in love with her so that Odette's spell becomes permanent. The ironic part is that the Black swan and Odette is usually played by the same dancer—my sister."

"Ooh, ironic." Haru smirked, "so you're basically taking over your sister's part in the play?"

"Not really, it's just that she doesn't want to be the black swan and pushed it off on some poor first-year girl." Tohru shrugged and looked up at the relatively large building ahead of them. "And now let's just see how well I can avoid my step-mother, shall we?" Tohru bowed them ahead through the gate and led them inside and into the basement studio rooms. The entranceway just inside the doors for the dance studios held an entire wall of cubbies for shoes and a pair of chairs with a side table between them on the opposite wall. Starting at the bottom, Tohru searched for her name on the side edge of the cubbies going further and further up. Tohru finally spotted her name written on one of the cubbies on the top row. Groaning, Tohru used the cubby holes as hand and foot holds to get up to it.

"You snooze, you lose Tohru-chan." A smooth tenor voice sounded out behind her. With a squeak, Tohru fell backward and into a pair of strong arms. "Why, do you always greet hot dance guys like this?" the boy chuckled as he set Tohru down.

"Apparently only you so far, Naoki-kun." Tohru huffed and looked up at her cubby. "Would you be a dear and get my stuff out of my cubby hole for me?" she pouted, sticking out her bottom lip and generally looking cute. The taller boy rolled his eyes and kneeled down.

"How about I just," he grabbed Tohru's legs and stood up, "lift you up instead." Tohru squeaked and hugged his head to steady herself from the sudden height increase. "Can you reach it now?" he asked, adjusting his grip so that Tohru would grab him again.

"If you stop that I can!" Tohru stuck out her tongue and reached into the cubby to pull out a plastic bag. "Okay—eee!" Tohru shrieked as Naoki suddenly let go and grabbed her waist to set her down gently. Hitting his chest with the bag, Tohru stuck out her tongue. "That wasn't very nice! At least give me a warning next time so I can grab onto something.

"What? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't trust me."

"Try with a ten foot pole… at least you put a shirt on before coming out," Tohru commented dryly, digging around in the plastic bag.

"I'm guessing you heard about Kaoru's accident then."

"I heard that it was food poisoning or something like that. What did you see?" Naoki shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs, slumping.

"Nothing much. All I saw was that she collapsed when we were rehearsing. Did you know that she was recovering from Anorexia?"

"Poor baby. And she was smaller than me to start off with. I'm assuming the usual pressure from the usual person?" Naoki started to nod.

"Nathan! Where did you get off to this time?" both Naoki and Tohru flinched at the sharp voice.

"Uh-oh. Busted." He commented as he stood up straight, hiding Tohru from sight.

A tall and slender woman with jet-black hair pulled into a severe bun stalked in. she was wearing black tights and leotard. "There you are! Get in there and run 50 laps. Then you can explain why you're cutting out on class again." The woman pointed to a door down the hall.

"B-but I thought I heard someone out here, so I came to check…" the woman started tapping her foot, "them!" Naoki moved aside to reveal the two Sohma boys and Tohru.

"Tabitha, it has been a long time, has it not? Did Sylvia give you my message?" Tohru gave a low curtsey and nodded.

"Yes Ma'am. Thank you for such a wonderful opportunity to support your daughter in her role in the play." The woman looked down her nose at Tohru and turned to the two boys.

"Yes?" she quipped, looking the boys over in turn. "Too scrawny. If you want to join, you'll have to lose that baby fat and get some muscles first."

Momiji shook his head and stood up straight. "I'm sorry for the intrusion Hidama-sensei, it won't happen again. I was showing my cousin the building because he's interested in an acting class here. I accidentally took a wrong turn and ran into Honda-san here." Momiji gave a helpless motion toward Tohru and backed up a step.

Snorting, the woman turned back to Tohru, looking as if she was eating lemons. "You had best choose your friends better Tabitha, it could come back to haunt you. I will see you next rehearsal, correct?"

Tohru curtseyed again, "yes Ma'am." The woman turned and grabbed Naoki in her raptor-like grip before stalking her way down the hall from where she came. The Sohma and Tohru left as fast as they could and slumped against the outside gate.

"Jerk," Momiji and Tohru mumbled at the same time, groaning.

"You can avoid her because you don't take dance. I can't because she was my dad's first wife."

"Ouch. That why you quit?" Momiji sympathized. He'd actually taken dance for a very short while to prepare himself for his new year's dance, and he was glad that he didn't have to take it much longer.

"Tabitha?" Haru mumbled.

"Among many other things. That's the only reason I didn't take ballet too long though." Momiji nodded.

"Tabitha?" Haru questioned a bit louder.

"What other dances did you take then?"

"Practically everything. I stayed the longest at ballroom dancing though. My waltz has something to be desired though."

"Tabitha?" Haru asked, looking straight into Tohru's face.

"What?!" she huffed, her arms stiffening so that she wouldn't hit the cow.

"Why'd she call you Tabitha?" Tohru flinched again and growled.

"Because that's my English name. Our family teaches Latin and English practically before we're taught Japanese. But as far as you should care, my name is Tohru, okay?" the cow nodded and stood up to look at the sunset.

"It's getting late; we need to get you home." Haru commented as if he hadn't just riled Tohru's feathers.

"She gives everyone English names, doesn't she?" Momiji asked, holding Tohru's hand and one of her bags. She absolutely refused to let the boys carry her wooden sword though.

"To those that don't have them already, yes she does. She absolutely refuses to call anyone by their Japanese name. I once asked her about it and she said that it was uncivilized in dance to have anything but a European name… and then she cuffed me for being stupid." Tohru shrugged and looked over to Momiji. "You've talked to her a few times, haven't you? Did she give you a name?"

"Michael or something like that. Mom actually gave me a German name. I saw it on my birth certificate once. I think it was… I can't remember what it was. What do you think Haru's name would be?" the cow grunted and looked at the two from the corner of his eye.

"Harry, Henry, Hold on!" Momiji let go of Tohru's hand and grabbed his ringing cell phone out of his pocket.

"Hold on?" Tohru mouthed, trying not to laugh at the possibility of that being a name.

"Moshi, moshi!" the rabbit chirped and pulled the phone away from his ear as he started hearing yelling from the other side of the line. "Tohru-kun, I think it's for you." Momiji offered the phone to Tohru and she took it hesitantly.

"Kyo?" she asked and the yelling immediately ceased. After a few moments' silence with a small scuffle sound over the phone, Shigure's chipper voice started up.

"Hello Tohru-kun. It's getting dark and we're wondering—well, the boys are wondering— if the dear princess needed rescuing?"

"No Shigure-san, we're on our way back. I had a few old friends that I ran across and it took a bit longer than I thought it would. Would you tell Kyo to put the fish into the wire pan and set the oven to three-fifty for twenty-five minutes? Thanks." Tohru heard Shigure muffle the speaker and repeat the instructions to Kyo before uncovering the phone.

"He's on his grumpy way to do just as you asked. Where are you now?"

"We just left the School of the Arts and we're heading to the Honke and then to your house. I'll be home in about fifteen minutes.

"Okay, bye-bye."

"Bye." Tohru took the phone away from her ear and pressed disconnect, handing it back to Momiji. "Thank you both for escorting me this afternoon. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Tohru grabbed her bad from the dance hall and stuffed it into the duffle bag also. "I think I can make it home from here without getting lost. You guys should go before your guardians start to worry about you. Bye!" leaving no room for argument, Tohru turned down the road that would lead a straight shot to Shigure's house… through the woods. Taking out the black liquored box, Tohru hid one of the scythes underneath her skirt after holding it up for the boys to see.

Haru nodded and walked away, leading Momiji home. The rabbit followed Tohru's movements with a worried eye, but didn't chase after her. Giving one last glance over her shoulder, Tohru gave a 'don't worry about me' smile before ducking into the woods.

* * *

Tohru and Momiji aren't ones to say bad words, but I just wanted to emphasize how much of a nuisance she is to them, so don't yell at me about that. Otherwise, I'd love to hear your comments on this story of which I have taken characters that I do not own and made them my own.

Dark


	9. Scorpio

Honda 9: Scorpio

Orion was proud about being the most powerful and skillful hunter in all of Greece. He boasted that he could kill any animal that dared to challenge him. The mother of earth, Gaia, was shocked and appalled at the man's exclamations. One day, when Orion boasted that he could kill all the animals of the earth, Gaia put her foot down. She sent a giant scorpion to kill the man that dared harm her creatures. The powerful hunter quickly fell under the sting of the creature, overwhelmed by one of the creatures he hunted. They are both commemorated in the night sky, opposite of each other so that they will never fight again. They are Orion the Hunter and Scorpio the Scorpion.

* * *

Tohru entered the house with the oven timer beeping in the kitchen. Mild cursing floated through the air as the clashing of metal against metal rang out. Tugging her loafers off, Tohru call out her arrival home before scurrying into the kitchen. "Kyo-kun, are you all right?" she asked, seeing the cat sucking on his burnt fingers. Tohru reached for his hand, but he turned away from her reach. "Let me see your fingers, please Kyo-kun?" she reached again and he reluctantly let her see. The slight redness of his fingertips and palm told the entire story. Pulling him over to the sink, she soaked a rag in cold water and wrung it out before holding it on his palms. "Hold this for me, okay?" turning to the fish, she grabbed a fillet and poked it with her cooking chopstick, checking it for flakiness. "Can you taste this for me, Kyo-kun?" she held out a perfectly cooked piece for him to bite onto.

"It's okay, I guess," Kyo shrugged, dropping the wet rag onto the edge of the sink. Without speaking, Tohru wet the rag again and placed it in Kyo's hands. In the same turn, she grabbed a pan and placed it on the stovetop with a pad of butter in the bottom. Allowing it to melt, Tohru also started up the rice cooker and placed the fish in a covered pan to keep warm on low heat on the back burner.

Pouring some milk into the pan, she whisked it and some 'mysterious powders' together and let it heat up. "…How long," Tohru asked quietly, "were you able to hold the pan? You didn't get as burned as you should have."

Tossing the rag between his palms, Kyo shrugged. "It was in the back of the oven and I couldn't reach it with those stupid oven mitts on. It kept slipping." Tohru nodded and wet the rag again before handing it back. Touching the oven mitts where they were tossed on the counter, she nodded at the scorch mark on the edge and how wet they were.

"Let me see your arm. You didn't tell me that you were burned there too." Pushing up his sleeves, she inspected both of his forearms with a small frown. "That's not right…"

"What?" he asked, watching her trace the contours of his muscles.

Looking up in shock, Tohru flashed a stupid smile. "Oh…just your fate line. It says 'live long and prosper'!" Kyo snorted and pulled back, touching his beaded bracelet out of habit.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tohru shrugged and gave a stupid grin before turning back to her white sauce. "Whatever. I'm going outside."

"Are you going to join me again tonight?" Tohru murmured into her sauce. Kyo turned, barely hearing her question.

"What?"

"Nothing!" she chirped, "Just if you fall asleep on the roof, I'll save some fish for you!" Kyo snorted and thumped Tohru lightly.

"Yeah," he whispered in her ear, "I see you later." She nodded, tilting her head into his cheek in silent thought.

"Ooh! What are my lovebirds up to now? Whispering little nothing into each other's ears, hmm?" Shigure giggled as he peeked around the corner with his sleeves covering his mouth. Both teens flushed and Kyo stomped outside while Tohru stirred her sauce with more vigor. "So," Shigure tucked his hands into his sleeves and leaned back against the counter, "how was your appointment with Ha-san?" he asked with a suggestive tone to his voice.

Tohru blushed slightly, not understanding why she did so. Maybe it was being in the presence of a handsome older man? Biting her inner cheek, Tohru glared at herself internally. She was not her mother. She would not become her mother. She was Tohru. Tohru! Not Kyoko. "I-it was fine. Hatori-san's going to look at my scar after Yuki-kun's appointment next week. Until then, he gave me some medicine for the pain." Shigure nodded, his eyes closed.

"Will you ever show the boys who you really are?" he asked, staring into Tohru's eyes. She turned her head away and looked up slightly, as if that would stop the unintentional tear from slipping.

"When you stop keeping secrets from those that only want to help you."

Shigure nodded, unfolding his arms. "Fair enough," He tried to dip his finger into the white sauce to taste it, but Tohru rapped his knuckles hard with the wooden stirring spoon. "Toh-ru-ku-un! That hurt!" he whined, cradling his abused his hand. "Those boys have become a bad influence on you. They're turning my precious flower into a rose with thorns! Poor me!"

Tohru smiled gently and set her spoon down. Snapping to attention, she turned to Shigure and gave a graceful bow, kissing his abused knuckles. "Is that better?" she didn't straighten up until he nodded.

"Oh, my!" he mock-gasped in falsetto, "we mustn't! What shall the others think of us?"

Grinning, Tohru turned away, acting like Yuki around Kyo with the wooden spoon held in her crossed arms. "They'd kill you," She said over her shoulder, barely keeping her face straight.

Shigure sighed dramatically. "I guess your right." Turning away, he looked over his shoulder. "But then again, who would dare strike such a handsome face as this." He batted his eyelashes and Tohru groaned, waving him out of the kitchen.

Watching Shigure leave, Tohru sighed quietly as she stirred the sauce. "That's what I am, don't you agree? A rose with thorns." Her stirring stopped as she closed her eyes. "A black rose with thorns…"

* * *

"Hey."

"Hi." Tohru looked up from her far-off staring into the woods. A bowl with a tapered candle sat next to her, giving a faint glow and deepening the shadows of her body. "What do you see?" she turned back to the woods as she patted the ground beside her, behind the candle. Clasping her hands under her knees, she rested her chin on her knees as she looked at Kyo out of the corner of her eye.

"The forest."

"Is that all that you see? That's very blunt of you," she grinned, but seized up as a tremor wracked her body as the moon peered over the clouds. Panicking, Kyo's hands hovered over Tohru's shoulders, unsure what to do. The moon hid again and Tohru slumped for a few seconds before groaning. Looking up at the panicked Kyo, Tohru grinned, "hey stranger. How long were you sitting there?" Kyo opened his mouth to say something, but Tohru waved him off, "I'm fine. I thought we went over that already." Kyo was about to protest, but Tohru grinned, "but I will say one thing: I really like cloudy nights right now, don't you?" bringing the bowl with the lit candle closer, Tohru attempted to touch the flame, a small smile dancing on her face.

"What are you doing?" Kyo grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from the flame, "don't you know that you can get burnt—"

"Like you did on your arms earlier?" she interrupted, pulling her hand away gently. "A normal human would have had a strip of blackened skin by touching the element. The only reason that your hand was affected was because you expected it to." She spoke quietly, but with a mix of force and an emotion that Kyo couldn't quite pin down with a name. "And the burns on your hands are gone by now, aren't they? Not even a red mark to show your troubles."

"What are you talking about?" it was true that he couldn't feel any pain from his hands anymore, but there was still a pink tinge on his hands, like he had hit something hard with his open hand.

Tohru took her hand back and laid down in the grass, drawing the candle about a foot in front of her face as she propped herself up on her elbows. She reached out and caressed the wax of the candle as it dripped down the side and into the bowl. "I don't get burned either." She made a motion to pinch the candlewick to snuff out the flame and pulled back, flame held between her two fingers. Tilting her hand as she opened it, the flame slid into her palm like a droplet of water, becoming larger as multiple colors and sparks came out. "It won't bite," she stared over the flame as she held it out to Kyo. "At least, it won't bite us. I don't really know about Yuki-kun or Shigure-san though. Here," she dumped the yellow and blue flame into Kyo's hand and watched it turn red and spark before extinguishing.

Smiling at Kyo's shocked expression, Tohru pulled a cheap lighter out of a small bag that she had sitting next to her and relit the candle. "That's about all I can do though. I've seen some pyros do some really intricate fire dancing before." Tohru touched the flame and smiled, "I've even heard that if someone's good enough, they can create solid shapes out of fire…beautiful." Kyo looked at the flame and had to do a double take. He thought, for a moment, that he saw an animal's head staring back at him. The head yawned cat-like and disappeared. Shaking his head, he fell back and looked at the stars, his hands forming a pillow.

"You told me that you knew about the stars, right? Then what about that one?" he traced an outline of one that was directly overhead.

Rolling over, Tohru shifted to use Kyo's stomach as a pillow. "Which one? The red one above the three stars in the straight line?" feeling Kyo nod, Tohru traced the outline of the rest of the constellation. "That's Orion, the hunter. He's wearing his golden belt and stalking some of the other animals in the sky with his bow and arrows. Some say it's a club or a shield, but I think it's a bow. That red star, it's his armpit and its name is Betelgeuse. If you follow it up, that's his arm holding an arrow—sword—whatever you like. He has two dogs with him," she pointed to two different constellations, "Canis Major and minor… at least, that's where they should be…" Tohru giggled, embarrassed that the clouds cut her lesson short.

"Want to try again?" she asked, gesturing to the candle and sitting up, pinching the flame off of the wick and held it up to her eye level. "Fire needs fuel to burn and to live," she stated, allowing the flame to crawl around her hands. It danced between her fingers and around her wrist, creating a fiery bracelet that nipped at the yellow edges of her nightshirt. "I give it my own energy by focusing on the heat in my hands. I imagine, for example, my fingertips burning." the fire snaked to her fingertips, leaving an ashy trail from her wrist. "Now you try. Focus on your palm first." She tipped one of her fingers into his palm.

"Like this?" Kyo asked, cupping his hand as the flame flickered uncertainly before going out.

"Not bad. Try cupping your hands like you're holding a baseball." she pantomimed holding a baseball in both of her hands, one on either side. "Just remember to let air trough your fingers too." after a few moments, she let another fingertip's worth of flame jump to Kyo's hands. He held it for longer before it exploded in his face.

"Don't say a word," Kyo growled, wiping the soot off of his face. Tohru giggled and stood up, offering her hand to help the cat up. Kyo stared at it and then stood up on his own, deliberately staring at her outstretched hand.

Following Kyo's eye movement, she stared at her hand also before blushing. She held it up in front of the face. "Oops," she smiled sheepishly as she extinguished all but one flame, making that one grow to about the size of a softball as it migrated to her palm. Turning, she walked to the opposite edge of the clearing. Looking over her shoulder, Tohru realized that Kyo wasn't following. "A word!" she laughed, sticking out her tongue and winking.

With a half-hearted growl of playful annoyance, Kyo chased after Tohru, following the ball of flame that she held above her shoulder, illuminating the dark woods eerily. Stopping, Tohru turned around, swaying as she stood on a log that crossed a deep riverbed. She swayed dangerously, cart wheeling her arms for balance. She put her foot out to stabilize herself and grinned. "Catch!" Kyo reacted on instinct as he watched Tohru fall off the log with her throwing effort.

"Tohru!" he yelled, running to the edge and looked over, clutching the ball of flame in his fist absently.

"Hi Kyo-kun!" Tohru waved from five feet down. She was sitting on the file of leaves under the log.

Turning red from embarrassment, Kyo knelt at the edge of the ravine and glared down at the laughing girl. "Get back up here, you klutz! You nearly scared me to death!"

Pouting, Tohru stood up and brushed the stray leaves off of her clothes. "Just as I thought," she muttered to herself, "thinking about it too hard." Clutching root bundles, she pulled herself up enough so that Kyo could grab her arms and help haul her up. Pulling her a few feet away from the ravine, Kyo glared at Tohru's 'you can't possibly hate me' face and sighed, thumping her on the forehead. Gasping, Tohru grabbed her stomach and bent over, biting down a scream as the moon beamed down from between the trees. Grabbing her shoulders in a panic, he kneeled to help steady her balance while she was crouching.

"Tohru? Tohru, speak to me." he commanded gently, feeling her thump her head onto his shoulder in her haze.

"It... It hurts." Kyo felt her shaking, from the cold or the pain, he didn't know.

"What hurts? Your stomach?" Tohru let out a weak laugh.

"I wish." Letting out her breath, the moon slid across the sky, its deadly beauty temporarily hidden once again. After a few moments, Tohru pushed back from Kyo's supporting arms and collapsed backwards, blacking out for a moment. "Wh-what happened?" she asked, rubbing the back of her head where it had hit a small stone in the fall.

Supporting her back, Kyo helped Tohru sit up on the forest floor, "you tell me. Do you always collapse like that?"

"I collapsed?" leaning forward, Tohru covered her face with her hands and rubbed her eyes. "I didn't think it'd be this bad so early," she mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing," Tohru stood up wobbly, grabbing Kyo's arm for support. "We should get back to the clearing, ne, before Shigure-san or Yuki-kun look for us."

"Damn rat can get lost out here as far as I care," Kyo scoffed, leading Tohru around roots that he swore were just there to make Tohru trip.

"Kyo-kun, you could at least pretend to—" Tohru stumbled over a root but was caught by Kyo's quick action, "—get along with Yuki-kun. In another lifetime, you and Yuki-kun would have been best friends, I can see it in your and Yuki-kun's actions."

"With that rat! Pch, you're getting delusional." Tohru shrugged the best that she could while not losing her tentative balance.

"Maybe I am, or maybe both of you are blind beyond what others expect of you."

"What?" Kyo stopped walking, caught up in his own confusion.

"Simple," Tohru sat down on a particularly large root and patted the bark beside her invitingly, "What does the Sohma household believe between you two, the cat and the rat?"

Kyo pointed a peeved look towards Tohru, but she knew that she wasn't the real recipient of the look, but instead the ones that shunned him in the past. "The cat is the cursed animal," he started as if reciting a lesson, "fated to never be part of the zodiac, yet it is still part of it."

"Like the god, sort of." Tohru suggested, discreetly leaning against the tree's trunk and trying to look as awake as possible.

"No, not god. God's the center of the wheel, keeping all of his pets," he spat the word, "together."

"Maybe," Tohru fought a yawn, "maybe God's not the center, at least not completely." Tohru held up a hand to stave off Kyo's protests. "Listen; there are twelve zodiac, correct? But with the god, that's thirteen, and unlucky number. But with you, the cat, that makes fourteen. One plus four equals five and the number five represents the whole."

"You must be tired to be babbling on with nonsense like that." Kyo tried to pull Tohru up, but she protested, hooking her toe under one of the smaller above-ground roots.

"Did you know that the Egyptians had a goddess named Bast? She was a cat and one of the more popular goddesses. What if," Tohru paused for effect, "The cat was actually half of the core? The yang to the god's yin, I guess you could say." Kyo scoffed and helped Tohru up. "At least think of it, please?" Kyo groused, but that was the end of his part of the conversation.

They made it to the back door before Tohru turned to Kyo again, "Maybe the one that you should be fighting for a place isn't Yuki-kun, but Akito-san. Goodnight." Tohru kissed Kyo on the cheek and slipped inside. Frowning Kyo sat on the porch, tracing patterns in the ash that the flame left on his palm and fingers.

* * *

With only the glow of the monitor to light up the room, Shigure sat back and hummed, listening to the quiet exchange outside. "Could it be possible that our little flower can break our curse after all?" he shrugged and pulled out a small sketchbook, flipping through various pictures before taking out a pencil and adjusting a like on one of a girl, almost woman, holding a wilted rose in one hand.

* * *

Okay, Fanfiction's a little interest, so I'll hope that you enjoyed this chapter when you realize that I _finally_ updated! Dark 


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